9 Sep 2016

Otago quake fears after Macquarie Island shake

10:26 am on 9 September 2016

An earthquake near Macquarie Island caused a scare for New Zealand this morning when GeoNet reported it was a 5.3-magnitude shake near Otago.

GeoNet originally said a quake had hit at 9.48am and was centered 30km south-east of Roxburgh, at a depth of 12km.

The shake was rated as 'severe'.

However, it emerged soon after that the quake had actually happened offshore to the south, near Macquarie Island.