Earthquake rattles residents

The ground rocked and possessions toppled when a magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck Hawke's Bay yesterday.

GeoNet recorded the 9.58am tremor as being centred 25km northeast of Waipukurau at a depth of 31km.

It was followed by a smaller quake measuring 2.4 on the Richter scale, which hit 5km from Waipukurau at 10.49am.

The first quake was widely felt across the country, from North New Brighton in the South Island, to Ngaroto in the North. Residents in the Hastings suburb of Mayfair described a "strong" shake while other parts of the region reported light to moderate rocking. GNS Science duty seismologist John Ristau said deeper earthquakes were widespread, but less likely to cause aftershocks.

"The thing is, the earthquake was deep at 31km - the deeper earthquakes tend not to generate any more activity," he said.

He added it was not unusual for Hawke's Bay to feel tremors because it sat on a junction of the Pacific and Australian plates.

"You tend to get earthquakes that size on a fairly regular basis; in December 2007 there was a 6.7 in Gisborne and there have been a couple of 5.5's.

"There are earthquakes which occur on the boundary, on the crust and in the plates - they happen quite frequently," he said.

"The largest ones are on the boundary of the two plates, that's where they start to measure 8 and above."

Waipukurau and wider Central Hawke's Bay residents had mixed experiences of the main event yesterday, but no major damage was reported anywhere in Hawke's Bay, defence emergency management group manager Ian Macdonald said.

However, the shake-up did provide a real reminder for people to keep their emergency kits well stocked, or create one if they hadn't already.

"If everything is prepared, then there is no need to worry," he said. "If people want to find out more, they can go to our website; hbemergency.govt.nz."

It was also a good time to ensure any large objects, such as book cases, fridges or televisions were secured to the wall and all precious objects were stuck down to minimise breakages.

Patients and staff at Hawke's Bay Hospital felt yesterday's quake, but it was not large enough to affect any of its everyday services.

In case of a major earthquake, the Hawke's Bay District Health Board has an incident plan in place, while clinical staff are on hand to reassure patients and keep them calm during a moderate jolt.

People took to social media to share their stories yesterday, with many saying they heard "loud rumbling" before the shaking began. One woman said that her TV toppled from the wall, while another lost water from her tank and others reported objects falling from shelves.

Napier man Dave Turnbull said the jolt rattled and knocked over ornaments at his Onekawa home and downed an aircraft. An aviation enthusiast, he said a model Mustang fighter on his desk was sent to the floor.

"It took a dive," he said.

Customers at Napier's Warehouse stopped in their tracks as the aisles rattled. One couple, visiting Napier from Rye in Victoria, were more startled than most as they had never experienced a shake of that magnitude before.

"Although we've had a couple of small ones over there," the man said.

His wife, according to a family member, was left terrified.

Not many Dannevirke residents felt the 4.9 magnitude earthquake, but Norsewood's Lyn McConchie certainly did.

"My house just leapt on the foundations," she said.