'Light' tremor hits centre of country

6:40 am on 9 August 2020

People in the northern South Island and southern North Island felt a 4.7 earthquake centred in Marlborough last night.

The quake struck shortly before 8pm, in the St Arnaud Range south-west of Blenheim.

Registered at a depth of 57km, it's described on the government's GeoNet website as a 'light' tremor.

Some 2700 people have made 'felt it' reports to the site, most describing weak or light shaking, but a few described it as strong or severe.