Series of light earthquakes overnight

Three quakes struck the Tolaga Bay area, while two hit the Tokomaru Bay area. Photo / File

A series of light earthquakes hit the East Coast overnight.

Three quakes struck the Tolaga Bay area, northeast of Gisborne, while two hit the Tokomaru Bay area.

All the quakes were classified as light by GeoNet.

At 10.12pm and 10.13pm two quakes struck 20km southwest of Tokomaru Bay.

The first, a 2.9 magnitude quake, hit at a depth of 12km, the second at magnitude 2.8, hit at 13km deep.

Then, between 12.43am and 12.57am, three quakes rocked an area 15-20km northwest of Tolaga Bay.

A magnitude 3.4 quake struck first, followed by a 3.1 magnitude earthquake, and a magnitude 3.

There were no "felt" reports recorded on the GeoNet website for any of the quakes.

Meanwhile, another earthquake struck southeast of Pongaroa, a small township in the Tararua district.

The 3.2 magnitude quake struck at a depth of 25km. It was classified as weak, by GeoNet.

Two felt reports recorded a light intensity.