Thousands in the capital had an earlier-than-expected start to their weekends after being shaken awake by a 3.8-magnitude quake on Saturday morning.
The shake struck at 5:49am at a depth of 39km, according to GeoNet.
While not a huge quake, the epicentre was just 15km northwest of the city and 2501 people reported feeling it on GeoNet's website.
Two described it as extreme and 12 as strong - though most felt reports came in the light and weak categories.
However it was still big enough to give thousands an early wake-up call, and people took to Twitter in their droves to comment on the indiscriminate rattle.
"Thanks that was better than a morning coffee I'm wide awake now," one wrote, while another commented that it "felt bigger" than the 3.8-magnitude it was given.
One Wellingtonian described it as a "short sharp jolt" in a tweet posted this morning.
New Zealand's capital city was badly damaged in last year's November quakes, with many buildings having to be demolished or reinforced as a result.
Newshub.
