Strong earthquake strikes Milford Sound, reportedly felt across country

A powerful earthquake struck Milford Sound late on Monday night, with thousands of Kiwis across the country reporting having felt the shake.

The 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit at a depth of 12km at 10:35pm on Monday night, roughly 15km north of Milford Sound in the South Island.

It has been described as "strong" by GeoNet, with more than 6800 people reporting having felt the quake. Those reports came from as far away as Auckland, but most reports came from the Otago and Queenstown Lakes districts.

The majority of the reports described the quake as "light" however, 109 people said it was strong and 7 people said it was "extreme".

Many went to Twitter to report feeling the shake.

"Everyone in the South ok?" asked one user, while another said: "At first, I thought my vertigo struck again".

"The earth is shaking in Queenstown and the South Island."

Labour MP Clare Curran asked if everything was "all ok" in the area.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/08/massive-earthquake-strikes-milford-sound-reportedly-felt-across-country.html