New Zealand shaken by earthquake of 6.1 magnitude centered near Wellington

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Strong earthquake jolts

Wellington: The quake started with a large jolt followed by at least 30 seconds of moderate shaking, witnesses told NZ Herald.

The quake took place at 7.38 pm (local time) around 50 km northwest of Paraparaumu at a depth of 76 km.

The shaking has been classified as “strong” with reports of people feeling the tremors stretching across the whole country, according to GeoNet.

New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Center tweeted that the shake was “widely felt in the North Island.” There were no immediate reports of damage or injury and no tsunami warning.

Wellington is on the southern end of the more populous North Island, which is responding to a cyclone this week that has left four people dead and is the South Pacific nation’s most destructive weather event in decades.

earthquake

The nation of 5 million people sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes are common.

An earthquake in Christchurch on the South Island in 2011 killed 185 people and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings.

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