Wellington shaken by 4.5 magnitude earthquake overnight

A 4.5 magnitude earthquake struck just west of Upper Hutt in the early hours of 31 December, 2020. Photo / GeoNet

Wellington region has had a sharp jolt this morning from a 4.5 earthquake just west of Upper Hutt.

The temblor, which struck at 1.10am, was registered at a depth of 25km and is described by GeoNet as a moderate shake.

On its website, close to 13,000 people reported feeling it, several hundred of them experiencing the jolt as 'strong'.

That was an early New Years Eve wake up for Greater Wellington today with a M4.5 earthquake occurring 10km West of Upper Hutt. We’ve had over 12,000 felt reports for the moderate shake, more info here: https://t.co/RjYGnftrxL #eqnz pic.twitter.com/yk3F2mlExT

— GeoNet (@geonet) December 30, 2020