Deep Waikato earthquake felt across North Island overnight

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 160km below the Waikato region and was widely felt. Image / GeoNet

An earthquake shook the Waikato overnight and was felt across the North Island.

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake occurred 10km south-east of Tokoroa just after 1am this morning.

There was light shaking and the tremor struck 160km deep, according to GeoNet.

An early Monday wake up today with a M5.1 earthquake 160km below the Waikato region. It was felt across the North Island and we received over 2500 felt reports. These deep earthquakes are typically widely felt, but usually not close to the epicentre.#eqnz pic.twitter.com/VkwtstPSrz

— GeoNet (@geonet) August 1, 2021

GeoNet receive over 2500 felt reports. "These deep earthquakes are typically widely felt, but usually not close to the epicentre," GeoNet tweeted.

A few hours later there was a smaller 2.1 magnitude earthquake 15km north-west of Culverden. The second earthquake at 4.32am resulted in only weak shaking.