M5.1 earthquake near Gisborne, Gisborne

What happened

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck off the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand on 20 Feb 2017, 07:53 UTC at a depth of 11 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 Gisborne, about 143 km away in Gisborne, New Zealand.