A strong magnitude 5.3 quake has rattled Gisborne, but there are no reports of damage or tsunami threat, Civil Defence says.
Photo: GeoNet
The quake hit 20km south of Gisborne, at a depth of 29km.
It struck at 12.58pm.
Fire and Emergency says there are no reports of damage.
Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz said council staff are checking on remote communities and assessing if there is any damage.
Ms Stoltz said while there is no threat of a tsunami the quake was widely felt.
She said she was driving her car when the quake struck and the shaking seemed to last a long time.
"I was sitting at the traffic lights and my car started moving from side to side and I thought maybe I've got it in the wrong gear.
"But then I realised that no, it was quite a strong earthquake moving my car side to side. It was definitely quite a few seconds, maybe 30 seconds.
"I drove into the CBD to check what was going on and stepped into one of the gift shops and quite a bit of their stock was lying on the floor and they were tidying up."
Grant Bros gift store owner Renee Grant confirmed items had indeed been "flying off the shelves" during the quake.
"I could hear the earthquake coming and then things started swaying. There was a sudden jolt that caused several items to go flying off the shelves but luckily there were no breakages," she said.
Briscoes owner Rod Duke said his Gisborne store also suffered minor stock damage and the building was being checked by engineers, despite showing no visible signs of damage.
"Knives and forks went flying and half a dozen cups and saucers are broken. Luckily all our staff at Rebel Sports and Briscoes are okay," he said.
Gisborne District Council staff was now checking up on remote communities and assessing if any buildings or properties were damaged, Tairawhiti Civil Defence manager Wiremu Tamati-Smith said.
"It felt like a large jolt. GNS has informed us there is no tsunami threat, but this is a timely reminder for people to ensure that have plans in place in case there is an earthquake or tsunami," he said.
More than 1800 people have reported feeling the shake to GeoNet.
It was felt as far afield as Whakatāne, Cambridge, Hunterville, Dannevirke and Wellington.
One person has taken to Twitter to praise the response of Te Kura ō Whatatutu students who were visiting Tairāwhiti Museum at the time.
GNS Science said the earthquake is in no way related to yesterday's eruption on Whakaari/White Island.