Haast was rattled by a swarm of five earthquakes yesterday, three of them within 21 minutes of each other.
The first was at 7.37am, of magnitude 4.6 at a depth of 6km and centred 10km southeast of the township.
It was followed at 7.49am by a marginally stronger shake, measuring 4.7. The third was at 7.58am, and was 3.4.
A fourth shake, magnitude 2.9, was felt at 9.31am — all in the same location. This was followed by another at 10.57am, although that was later removed from the GeoNet website.
Haast Fire Chief Adam Cowan said he missed the first one but felt the second, as he was sitting in his truck at the testing station.
"It went on and on. It felt like quite a while," he said.
"The truck was rocking and rocking ... [it] slowly tapered off."
He was unaware of any damage or distress.
Meanwhile, Christchurch and North Canterbury woke to a shallow 5.1 magnitude earthquake at 6.45am.
The epicentre was 35km west of Culverden.
GNS seismic duty officer Kenny Graham said there was no clear indication that the Haast and Culverden jolts were linked.
Magnitude 4.5+ events were fairly typical for the region. Haast was known for its high seismic activity, having recorded over 85 magnitude 2+ earthquakes this year, he said.
The quakes aligned with the region’s expected seismic behaviour.
— Greymouth Star
