M5.4 earthquake near Blenheim, Marlborough

What happened

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 36 km SSE of Blenheim, New Zealand on 5 Jan 2017, 11:17 UTC at a depth of 17 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Moderate. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Blenheim, about 37 km away in Marlborough, New Zealand.