The earthquake which began at 9.22 p.m., was centred in the Dusky Sounds, off the west coast of the South Island. It had a focal depth of five kilometres.
Strong tremors were reported by residents as far away as Wellington, 800 kilometres from the epicentre.
It is reported to be the largest earthquake since the 1931 Napier earthquake, which recorded a 7.8 magnitude.
There had been 'no significant damage', according to Michele Poole, Public Information Manager, Southland Civil Defence Group, although some power outages had been reported. Damage was still being assessed.
“Civil defence personnel were making ariel reconnaissance flights in Southland and Fiordland,” said Miss Poole.
Marian Doherty, 60-year-old resident of Invercargill, 161 kilometres from the epicentre described the earthquake as “very eerie. It was the strongest earthquake I have ever experienced. It was like being on a boat waving from side to side.”
In Dunedin, 326 kilometres away, Anne-Mieke Ytsma was upstairs in her flat when the tremors began. She said, “We were wondering what it was—heaps of people were on the street. They had come out of their houses.”
In Te Anau, editor of the Fiorland Advocate, Kirsty Macnicol said there had been a lot of aftershocks but very little damage. “The local supermarket didn't lose a single bottle of wine,” she commented.
New Zealand has 10,000 to 15,000 earthquakes each year of which 100-150 are big enough to be felt.
NZGNS is equivalent to 7.8 (est) on the Richter scale.
The largest earthquake ever recorded in New Zealand was the 1955 Wairarapa Earthquake with a magnitude of 8.5.
