Early morning quake near Pongaroa

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck the lower North Island around 2.30am this morning.

The earthquake occurred 15km southwest of Pongaroa, a small township in the Tararua District 200km northeast of Wellington.

GNS data showed the earthquake was 24km deep, with a Mercalli intensity of 7.

A smaller, magnitude 3.8 earthquake occurred 20km north of Castlepoint just after 12am.

A police spokesman said there had been no initial reports of damage.