Startled residents across the lower North Island and upper South Island were rattled by a strong quake last night.
Wellington emergency services co-ordinator Fred Mecoy said the Meridian building in downtown Wellington was damaged in the 7.19pm shake and had sprayed the street on one side with broken louvres. Glenn Hudson, station officer at Thorndon fire station, said about a dozen louvres or shutters had come loose from the second storey of the north side of the Meridian Building on Customhouse Quay.
"The danger was that they would fall off and hit passers-by so we cordoned off the area, made the area safe," he said.
The Wagamama restaurant below was "full of happy diners" who felt the shake but the restaurant remained open.
Dairies reported stock dislodged from shelves in the magnitude 5.7 shake, 30km east of Picton, and workers in central Wellington buildings dived under desks and into doorways as the shake built to a rolling climax.
Newtown resident Donald McDonald said he felt the rumbling for about 10 seconds before a larger jolt.
Wellington City Council's helpdesk reported the quake was felt very strongly at the council offices. "We are on the sixth floor here and the lights were certainly swinging."
Geo-hazards duty officer Dr Tony Hurst said about 1600 reports were registered with GeoNet within minutes of the shake.
"Generally, the area that felt it the most was Marlborough, across to southern Wairarapa," Hurst said. "An event of this size can be felt quite widely, depending on what you're doing at the time. If you're sitting very quietly then you are far more likely to sense something."
Hurst said the depth of the earthquake, at 60km, meant there were not likely to be many aftershocks.
Facebook comments posted nervous reactions. Alastar Scarle wrote: "A tad unnerving when your watching tv on the couch and your xmas tree decides he's sexy and he knows it and does a wiggle wiggle." Wrote Mark Fairey: "Sharp jolt and then an extended rolling quake. Doesn't appear to be any damage at our place."
- Chloe Johnson, Joanne Carroll and Edward Rooney
