Another earthquake rattles North Island

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake has rattled the central North Island on Sunday afternoon.

It had a depth of 12 kilometres and struck 35 kilometres north of New Plymouth at 2:35pm.

According to GeoNet, over 3600 people reported feeling the quake. Six people say it was "extreme" and three believe it felt "severe". The majority claim it was weak, light or moderate.

A second earthquake 30 kilometres north of New Plymouth struck 21 minutes later, measuring at magnitude 3.1. It had a depth of 21 kilometres and is classed by GeoNet as having "weak" shaking.

People took to Twitter to describe the quake, with one saying it was "a sudden jolt and then a decent shake".

"Another small earthquake! Two short but strong jolts, enough to make something in the room rattle. This is not typical," another wrote.

Another user said it was "earthquake o'clock again".

It follows a series of earthquakes that shook the lower North Island during the week, the most recent of which occurred on Saturday night.

GNS Science duty seismologist Dr Jonathan Hanson told Newshub on Wednesday the earthquakes are the result of collisions between the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates.

"This creates stresses in the Earth's upper crust, manifested by the many active faults in New Zealand. The Pacific plate is moving westward by about 45mm a year, and this builds up stresses at the interface between the two plates. The resulting stresses are relieved by occasional quakes in the many faults in the upper crust."