WELLINGTON (REUTERS) - New Zealand's capital city Wellington was rocked by a 5.7 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday (Nov 9), according to the country's earthquake monitoring service.
The quake's epicentre was 35km south-east of St Arnaud, a small town in the north of the country's South Island, at a depth of 62km, according to Geonet's website.
Reuters witnesses felt shaking in Wellington, which has a population of around 450,000. There were no initial reports of damage or injury.
Earthquakes are common in New Zealand, whose two islands lie along the Australia-Pacific tectonic plate boundary.
A shallow 6.3 magnitude earthquake devastated the South Island's Canterbury region in 2011, resulting in nearly 200 deaths and levelling Christchurch, the country's second largest city.