New Zealand’s capital shook for a second consecutive day on Tuesday after a magnitude 5.2 magnitude earthquake hit Wellington, data from monitor GeoNet showed.
There were no initial reports of damage, according to news reports and a Reuters witness.
A slightly stronger 5.8 magnitude quake struck the capital on Monday while Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was doing a live TV interview. She calmly continued with the programme and later confirmed there had been no damage.
New Zealand lies on the seismically active “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and ocean trenches girdling much of the Pacific Ocean. The city of Christchurch is still recovering from a 6.3 magnitude quake in 2011 that killed 185 people.
Jonathan Hanson, from the local seismic office, said that that this quake was not the typical aftershock: “Until today there was a decrease in seismic activity associated with yesterday’s quake, but this could reset the sequence, we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.
Reuters / TV New Zealand
