Moderate Cook Strait quake felt throughout Wellington

Wellington.Scoop
A moderate earthquake in Cook Strait was felt throughout Wellington and Central New Zealand soon after 9pm tonight.

Geonet said it was magnitude 4.9 and was 25km northwest of Wellington at a depth of 22km.

Within half an hour of the quake, more than 30,000 people had reported it to Geonet.

RNZ reported that several people heard the earthquake before feeling it, while others received phone alerts moments before their city building began shaking.

A person at the Nutcracker ballet in the St James Theatre when the quake struck said: “Loud and heavy shake but no one missed a beat.”

Someone attending the Cowboy Junkies concert said they felt it in the Opera House: “There was one jolt as if someone had shaken the row of seats quite hard. The building handled it really well. Great concert.”

It ‘shook pretty big’ in Paekakariki, said a local, while someone in Wellington said “the earthquake wasn’t very big so we’re all good.”

Metlink advised that there was a 40km/h speed restriction on all lines as a result of the quake and that commuters can expect delays.