Authorities in two New Zealand cities began checking for damage at dawn on Tuesday after one of the biggest earthquakes to hit a populated area in the country in recent years.
The quake, which measured 5.9 on the Richter scale, hit the cities of Hastings and Napier, on the east coast of the North Island, at 11:25 pm (1125 GMT) Monday night.
It was centred 10 kilometres south-west of Hastings and was reportedly felt over a wide area.
News reports said items were shaken off shelves and some windows were broken, but there were no immediate reports of major damage.
Power was lost in two areas of Napier, but supplies were quickly restored, Radio New Zealand reported.
Warwick Smith, duty seismologist at the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, said the quake was reasonably deep at 30 kilometres beneath the earth and damage could have been far worse had it been shallower.
An aftershock measuring 3.5 was recorded soon after the big shake, and Smith warned residents to expect more.
Napier was the site of New Zealand's worst earthquake in February 1931, which measured 7.9 and devastated the city, killing 256 people. ( dpa )