Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Early morning 5.2 quake shakes lower North Island

NZ Herald
20 Nov, 2020 06:29 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A quake centred near the North Island's central volcanic plateau has rccked the lower half of the island overnight. Image / Geonet

A quake centred near the North Island's central volcanic plateau has rccked the lower half of the island overnight. Image / Geonet

A 5.2 tremor which caused homes to "jump" has rocked the lower half of the North Island overnight.

Geonet says the quake, which was located 35km west of Ohakune, in the volcanic Central Plateau, struck at 1.43am.

It was measured at a depth of 127km.

Those living in the affected regions say there was loud roar before a tremor which lasted up to 45 seconds.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

People across Whanganui and Manawatū have taken to social media describing the moment the early morning quake struck, saying there was initially a sharp jolt, followed by a series of shakes.

Geoff Blackmore, who was in Taumarunui not far from the quake's epicentre, described a thrust that violently rattled his home.

"It was a sharp jolt that made the house jump, followed by one minute and five seconds of very gentle swaying," he posted on Facebook.

An early wake up for some today with a M5.2 earthquake 128km below the Whanganui region. It was felt In the lower North Island and we received 3000+ felt reports.
For more detail see: https://t.co/1yT2SCX6xR pic.twitter.com/Fq5id3uFPh

— GeoNet (@geonet) November 20, 2020

Dave Martin said he was woken by the quake when his house started moving.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Woke me up.. The house was rocking like crazy," he posted.

Katrina Parker, who lives on the outskirts of Palmerston North, posted she was also woken from a good sleep when it hit.

"It was weird. A sharp jolt, then a pause, then a few shakes. Was waiting for more but glad there wasn't more. Dam I was having a good sleep too."

More than 3000 people reported feeling the tremor, experiencing rocking across the Whanganui region and the lower North Island.

Geonet said it was an early wake up for some today with the quake striking well below the Whanganui region.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Body of missing man found

Whanganui Chronicle

End of the line for former St George's School buildings

Whanganui Chronicle

Netball: Kaierau edge Pirates in thrilling Premier 1 clash


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Body of missing man found
Whanganui Chronicle

Body of missing man found

Kahu Gill's body was recovered near the Cobham Bridge on July 14.

16 Jul 08:34 PM
End of the line for former St George's School buildings
Whanganui Chronicle

End of the line for former St George's School buildings

16 Jul 06:00 PM
Netball: Kaierau edge Pirates in thrilling Premier 1 clash
Whanganui Chronicle

Netball: Kaierau edge Pirates in thrilling Premier 1 clash

16 Jul 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP