A strong 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck the region of New Zealand's Levin, at 7:52 AM local time on Monday (19:52 GMT Sunday). The earthquake depth was 45 kilometres, according to the state-sponsored geological hazard monitoring agency GeoNet.
The initial magnitude assessment made by GeoNet was 5.7, with over 37,000 reports from the capital, Wellington, and several other regions of the country, such as Blenheim, Raumati, Lyttelton, Petone.
Twitter users reported that they felt "shaken" by the earthquake in Wellington as apartments were "rocking and rolling".
According to GeoNet, a series of weaker earthquakes followed the initial temblor, with magnitudes varying from 3.3 to 3.7. No casualties have been reported.
New Zealand is situated on the collision zone between the Indo-Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, and earthquakes occur often. This region is a part of the Pacific Ocean basin's "Ring of Fire", famous for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand saw a series of strong earthquakes in spring 2019, some with a 7.0 magnitude.