A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck near New Zealand’s capital Wellington on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said, as the nation grapples with widespread mudslides and flooding in a soggy landscape following a cyclone.
New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Center tweeted that the shaking was “widely felt across the North Island.” There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries and no tsunami warning.
The quake struck under the Cook Strait that separates the northern and southern islands at a depth of 50 miles, the USGS reported.
NEW ZEALAND LIFTS STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARATION AS RAIN LESSES
Wellington is on the southern tip of the more populous North Island, which is responding to a cyclone this week that has killed four and is the South Pacific nation’s most destructive weather event in decades.
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck near Wellington, New Zealand. No immediate damage or injuries were reported. (Birgit Krippner/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
NEW ZEALAND BRACES FOR MORE FLOODS AFTER DEADLY RAIN IN NORTHERN REGION
As Cyclone Gabrielle moves away from New Zealand, an unrelated weather system is forecast to bring more heavy rain in the coming days, increasing the risks of more landslides and flooding.
The nation of 5 million people sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes are common.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
An earthquake in Christchurch on the South Island in 2011 killed 185 people and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings.
