People fled into the street in Wanaka as a magnitude 5.8 earthquake shook the lower South Island.



The 5.8 magnitude quake at 2.29pm was located 30km northwest of Wanaka. It was at a depth of 4km.



Buildings in Queenstown and Wanaka were swaying for several seconds.



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A second and lighter shake followed 10 minutes later. It was located 20km west of Wanaka at a depth of 11km and was a magnitude 3.4.

Apart from being "very noisy" the earthquake didn't topple over one bottle, said Super Liquor Wanaka duty manager, Cris Johnston.

She said they had pellets stacked up high, and not one toppled over.

"We were very lucky," she said.Stephanie Botha, who lives Tarras, east of Wanaka, said the earthquake "sounded like a freight train".



"Not a rolling one," she added. "A rattling one."

Botha is a new mother and said she was unsure whether she should grab her baby and run out or wait for it to pass. By the time she got under the door frame with her baby, the earthquake had passed.

"The house sounded like a money tin," she said.

She had been through a few earthquakes but this was the first time she had felt nervous, she said.

There was no damage at her house.



Wanaka real estate agent Harry Briggs said he ran from his first floor office in Helwick Street.



"I wasn't staying in the building."



He said most people in the Wanaka shopping mall fled to the safety of the street outside.



The earthquake was the largest he had felt for five or six years.



"It was quite strong and sharp. It lasted for about 30 seconds."



Dozens of "felt" reports have come in from around the South Island. In Wanaka, several windows were broken by the shaking but there were no major incidents, police said.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council has activated its emergency operations centre with staff inspecting critical infrastructure.

GeoNet geohazards information manager Kevin Fenaughty said the earthquake was not related to the 6.2 quake off the Kaikoura coast on April 17.



"They're far enough apart not to be directly related," he said.



"It's just very coincidental."



A flight landing was postponed as Queenstown Airport inspected its runway following the shake.



Airport spokeswoman Jen Andrews said the plane had since landed.



The shake was felt throughout the building and staff in her office were all under their desks, she said.



"Our team went straight out and did a sweep and made sure everyone was OK and all property was OK."



Otago University School of Dentistry manager, Margaret Berkeley said the earthquake was "certainly felt" in Dunedin and was "quite noticeable".

It was experienced as a rolling motion there, she said.

She immediately thought about her daughters in Christchurch and Wanaka and had confirmed they were okay, she said.

There was no damage at the school and everyone was fine, she said.

Wanaka Tourism Office general manager James Helmore said the shake built up quite quickly and went on for more than 15 seconds.



"It gave us all a bit of a shock," he said.



"There may be some minor damage in plastering" he said, but there was none he could see at that moment.



His office is in the centre of Wanaka on the third floor.



People were still working along the waterfront as normal, he said.



Wanaka attraction Puzzling World was evacuated.



"It was significant, we evacuated quick because we didn't know whether it was going to get worse," Heidi Landsborough of Puzzling World said.



"It was a bit difficult because we had a few people who thought it was part of the experience."



Nobody at Puzzling World was injured.



Rippon Vineyard and Winery commercial manager Pete Eastwood said he was "touching base" with everyone across the property.



"Everyone's safe and well but it was definitely a big rattle," he said.



"At the moment we're in the process of assessing damage, but there have been no obvious signs as yet."



Queenstown Sushi Box owner Kaz Suzuki headed outdoors with a customer as his business shook.



"It was very scary – like Japan," he said. "When I was younger we had a big earthquake – a magnitude six – and lots of my friends died."

Otago University School of Dentistry manager, Margaret Berkeley said the earthquake was "certainly felt" in Dunedin and was "quite noticeable".

It was experienced more as a rolling motion there, she said.

She immediately thought about her daughters in Christchurch and Wanaka and had confirmed they were ok, she said.

There was no damage at the school and everyone was fine, she said.