An earthquake near Seddon on 21 March was initially registered as a magnitude 4.6. Photo: Supplied/GeoNet
A magnitude 4.8 quake has rattled the top of the South Island.
The 9 kilometre deep quake, centred just south of Seddon, caused 'strong' shaking about 8.20am on Friday, GeoNet said.
Geonet said about 1300 people had reported feeling it, mainly describing it as weak or light, with the majority of reports in Marlborough, Nelson, Wellington and Kāpiti.
For one Ward resident, this shake brought back memories of the large 2013 magnitude 6.5 earthquake in Cook Strait near Seddon, which caused damage across the Marlborough and Wellington regions, leaving damage to most homes in Seddon, and the magnitude 7.8 that was centred near Kaikōura in 2016.
Jo Cameron told RNZ that when today's quake struck she was "pretty much right on top of it", on her daily commute to Seddon, and the "car rocked." There was no one else waiting at the spot, and she initially thought the shaking was strong wind, but saw what had caused it from the GeoNet updates.
Friday's quake was the first she had felt in a while, and while it was not among the strongest she had experienced, it still was a reminder, she said: "It certainly rattles a few cages and makes people ... aware that they can happen.
"In my mind anything under 5 is nothing to be bothered about, like things don't fall off shelves or anything - but it certainly reminds you of the big one, because we all experienced that, all those years ago."
Cameron works at Seddon School, and said the pupils had been arriving "all chipper" this morning after the shaking, and asking each other if they had felt it.
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