Earthquakes near Tokoroa keep Rotorua residents awake

Some Rotorua residents were awoken after an earthquake struck near Tokoroa overnight.

The magnitude 3.0 quake hit about 15 km south-east of Tokoroa at a depth of 5km about 10.50pm yesterday, Geonet reported.

About 360 people reported that they felt it as a moderate to weak shake.

A number of Rotorua residents took to Facebook following the quake, with one woman posting about how it had woken her up and she had felt numerous aftershocks until as early as 4am.

Others commented that they had only got a few hours sleep due to the earthquakes, while another said the kids had even jumped into bed with them as they were scared.

Earlier this week, two large earthquakes struck near Levin that were felt widely around the North Island.

On Monday morning, a powerful 5.8 magnitude earthquake was felt by more than 37,000 people across the length of New Zealand after it hit 30km northwest of Levin.

The next day, a 5.2 magnitude rattler was felt widely in the same area.