Taupo quakes quite normal, says seismologist

Earthquakes near Taupo in the past few days are nothing out of the ordinary and their depth should have prevented damage, says GNS Science.

An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale was recorded near Taupo at 7.03am yesterday at a depth of 80km. It followed an earthquake measuring 5.5 at a depth of 120km in the same area on Thursday.

"They are in similar positions, but New Zealand has between 15,000 and 20,000 earthquakes a year and you would expect 10 or 20 of this [size] a year," said seismologist Bryan Fielz.