A magnitude 5.5 earthquake has rattled central New Zealand, GeoNet says.
The quake occurred 70 kilometres northeast of Collingwood in Golden Bay in the upper South Island at 4:16pm on Sunday and was 190 kilometres deep.
GeoNet describes the shaking as 'light'.
More than 13,000 people have self-reported to GeoNet as having felt the earthquake, with the majority saying it was 'weak' or 'light'.
"That was a weird one. A little wiggle, pause, then bang," one Twitter user describes the earthquake.
"Crikey, a bit of a rattler in Wellington," another says.