Eketahuna residents fear aftershocks

NO DAMAGE: Tanmay Patel of Eketahuna Four Square, whose stock was damaged in the January 2014 earthquake. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake centred in northern Wairarapa left some residents in the region grateful for a "lucky escape" but wary of a greater shake to come.

Aftershocks had been rolling through Wairarapa on the heels of the severe intensity earthquake, which struck at a depth of 24km about 15km east of Pongaroa just after 9pm on Monday, according to GeoNet.

There had been four smaller quakes or "foreshocks" earlier Monday and more than 10 quakes afterward, of up to moderate intensity, centred near the same location as the largest tremor, GeoNet scientist Caroline Little said.

Houses swayed and items shook off shelves in areas closer to Pongaroa but there were no reports of serious damage and the severe quake was reportedly felt by more than 5000 people from as far away as Auckland and Invercargill, according to GeoNet.

Loreen Cunningham, Eketahuna Camping Ground manager, said she was at home when the severe intensity quake struck and had found items shaken from their racks at a second-hand goods shop she helps keep in the town.

"It was small at first but kept getting bigger and bigger and just carried on."

Margaret Parsons, Eketahuna Information Centre manager, said the 5.8 magnitude earthquake had been powerful enough to move her where she was sitting in her home.

"It made me shift and I could hear the glass in the windows moving too."

Tanmay Patel, owner of Four Square Eketahuna, did not feel the greater tremor and had found no damage at his shop and adjoined bottle store, he said, which had been hit hard during the 6.2 magnitude quake that struck near the town last January.

"We had a lucky escape and it was just luck the shaking stopped when it did. If it had lasted another five or 10 seconds, it might have been very different," he said.

Mr Patel had checked and cleared his business and home, he said, but was left on edge and worried another bigger tremor could strike at any moment.

"If you've been through it once, you're always thinking 'oh no, not again'."

Residents in Pongaroa reported the quake as a rolling and shuddering tremor lasting about 30 seconds. Whakataki Hotel manager Dave Hastie estimated the same duration but at first thought the shake was blustery wind.

"It was one of the better ones. I thought of dashing outside," he said.

Carterton Mayor John Booth said the quake had given "the old farm house a good rock and roll ... like I'm on a boat".

Pongaroa lies 110km southwest of Hastings and about 200km northeast of Wellington. The small settlement has a population of about 100.