Thousands of people reported feeling the quake, which struck at 9.42pm near Seddon.

A strong aftershock following last year's destructive Kaikoura earthquake struck near Seddon on Thursday night, with thousands reportedly feeling the shake.

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Bit of a rattle there! Hope everyone is doing ok after that. Remember the right action during a quake: Drop, Cover and Hold. #eqnz https://t.co/3HquStV5NB — MCDEM (@NZcivildefence) April 6, 2017

The quake, which hit at 9.43pm, was centred 10km east of the South Island town of Seddon. It was originally reported as magnitude 4.8, but was upgraded to magnitude 5.

Emergency services have not received any callouts following the earthquake.

GNS Science duty seismologist Caroline Little classified the shake, which was 11km deep, as an aftershock following last November's magnitude-7.8 Kaikoura earthquake.

"It's part of the aftershock sequence and it's to be expected.

"The last magnitude-5 aftershock was on March 1, it was much further south though, it was near Cheviot," Little said.

People living near Kaikoura could expect more aftershocks.

"There may be a few more smaller shakes this evening and going forward this is in line with the aftershock forecast," Little said.

More than 2300 people reported feeling the quake on GeoNet.

A 3.5 magnitude shake occurred at 12.01am Friday 20km southeast of Seddon at a depth of 20km, followed by a 2.4 magnitude at 12.15am 15km east of Seddon at a depth of 15km.. Two quakes above 3.0 magnitude struck in the North Island in the early hours of Friday - a 3.1 near Dannevirke at 1.47am at a depth of 6km and a 3.4 near Waverley at 3.10am at a depth of 54km.