A shallow 4.2 magnitude earthquake has been detected near East Cape, after a strong aftershock near Wellington this morning.

This morning's aftershock in Cook Strait was the largest since the 6.5 tremor a week ago, but no damage has been reported.

GNS scientists are confident a rise in activity at White Island isn't connected to this week's earthquakes in Cook Strait.

Property investor Sir Bob Jones is calling on the Government to ease the financial burden for commercial building owners who are required to earthquake strengthen their properties.

Homeowners who think the only issue with house insurance changes is the likely premium increase need look no further than Christchurch.

Residents have cleared out of a central Wellington street while urgent work is carried out on a quake-damaged carpark lift which could crash down in an aftershock.

Residents have cleared out of a central Wellington street while urgent work is carried out on a quake-damaged carpark lift which could come crashing down in an aftershock.

Police say they have identified three people linked to a brazen theft from a Wellington cafe. Meanwhile, work to clean up damaged buildings in Wellington continued.

A major construction company involved in the Christchurch rebuild says it uses migrant workers because it they are cheaper than local builders.

Experts say the injury toll in Wellington from Sunday's quake would've been higher had it struck on a weekday, as an aftershock plague continues.

An Auckland couple are fighting to bring their sick baby home after she was born three months early on a stopover in China.

Wellington Regional Council offices in Wakefield St remain closed to the public today as engineers continue to assess the building in the wake of Sunday's violent earthquake.

The small town of Seddon, the closest town to the weekend's earthquakes, is cleaning up after the damage wrought by the tremors.

The next few days will be a trying time for many in Wellington, but people are being urged to remember that children in particular need special attention at this time.

The Cook Strait earthquakes may have occurred on an unmapped fault line, seismologists believe.

Tired and frustrated domestic air travellers were stuck at Auckland Airport yesterday for up to six hours after thick fog grounded flights.

Wellington's earthquakes have put the spotlight back on seismic issues.

Insurance companies are refusing policies to new customers in central New Zealand after Sunday's 6.5 earthquake.

Former Christchurch resident Angela Senior and her three young daughters were in Marlborough for the school holidays when the Sunday evening quake hit.

At Wellington's post-earthquake rush-hour, its central business district was filled only with pigeons and lonely security guards.

Joan Dodson spent the night in a four-wheel-drive vehicle and has not been back inside her damaged home since Sunday's quake.

Editorial: Wellington has also felt more frequent big shakes in the past few days than Christchurch did during its 16-month ordeal and Wellington's is probably not over.