Thousands of people had reported feeling the quake to Geonet by 7.20am.

A 5.1 magnitude quake was felt widely across the central and lower parts of the North Island.

There were even reports of it being felt in parts of the South Island, too.

GeoNet reported that the quake struck about 6.47am, at a depth of 167km and was located about 25km southeast of Tokoroa.

GeoNet described the intensity as weak.

The quake was initially recorded as 4.7, but was upgraded to 5.1 shortly after.