A POWERFUL 7.4 magnitude earthquake rocked New Zealand’s South Island late on Sunday, Geonet, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake, located 20km south east of Hanmer Springs at a depth of 16km, struck just after midnight local time on Sunday.

That was followed by a magnitude 5.5 quake at a depth of 20km, which hit the same region two minutes later.

The quake brought with it the risk of a tsunami.

The NZ government’s GeoNet website reported it as “severe” and confirmed it was felt throughout the country.

media_camera While there are no reports of major damage, this photo was napped near Wellington, and shows a damaged kitchen roof. Picture: Twitter: ‏@dickbicknell media_camera A NZ shop following the shake up.

Geonet called the quake “very large” and reported 27 after shocks following on from the initial quake.

Tsunami gauges have recorded a sizeable tsunami wave of around two metres. It has now got significantly smaller, but still is rated as very dangerous, tsunami waves are showing up in Wellington and other coastal parts of the country.

New Zealand Civil Defence issued a tsunami warning via Twitter, warning people near the South Island’s east coast to stay on higher ground. The warning covered the cities of Christchurch and Wellington.

media_camera People stand on the streets of Wellington after their buildings were evacuated. Picture: Twitter.

7.4 earthquake 100kms north of Christchurch. Felt it here in Wanaka. Whole house shook and wobbled. We ran outside just incase. — Grant Denyer (@grantdenyer) November 13, 2016

According to the New Zealand Herald, the shock was felt as far afield as Wellington and Dunedin. There were reports of people out in the street crying and of police sirens.

No serious damage was reported, though some posted photos to Twitter of shelves being overturned.

There are reports that houses in Cheviot, near where the quake was centred in Canterbury, were badly affected by the shake.

Newshub reported a chimney had collapsed at the Fiji High Commission in Wellington.

The series of tremors have also reportedly knocked out power in several towns and emergency services calls are down.

New Zealand Civil Defence said it is “assessing [the] situation with assistance of scientific advisers and civil defence groups”.

Tsunami therat is for the eastern coast of the south island. anyone near the east coast of the south island should move to high ground #eqnz pic.twitter.com/C3GG01el1l — MCDEM (@NZcivildefence) November 13, 2016

Australian game show host Grant Denyer who is in New Zealand on holidays said his house was shaken by the quake.

“7.4 earthquake 100kms north of Christchurch. Felt it here in Wanaka. Whole house shook and wobbled. We ran outside just encase.’’ He said.

“Holy crap! We just had an earthquake here in NZ,” he said.