NO TSUNAMI THREAT: The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, which produced this map detailing the location of the quake, says there is no danger of Pacific tsunamis and GNS Science said there was no local tsunami.
A massive earthquake which rattled Southland early this morning has been followed by two aftershocks.
The first quake, measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale, which struck at 1.29am, was centred 60 kilometres from Milford Sound at a depth of 24km and felt strongly in the region.
The quake was widely felt in the South Island and woke sleeping residents in the lower North Island but there have been no reports of injuries or damages
It was followed at 2.50am by a second quake, also centred 60km west of Milford but at a depth of 5km, GNS Science said.
The third aftershock came at 6.34am, 50km west of Milford, and again at a depth of 5km.
GNS Science duty seismologist Mark Chadwick said the quake was centred slightly offshore from Fiordland.
"There's not too much infrastructure down there to damage," he told NZPA today.
Southland Civil Defence officer Tom Shaw said civil defence staff at Milford had inspected the area as thoroughly as was possible in the dark immediately after the quake and there were no signs of damage to buildings or structures.
However, the earthquake was felt very strongly in that area as well as across the region and further afield, he said.
Invercargill Civil Defence officer Bill Obers said he had not received any reports of structural damage in the immediate aftermath of the quake.
Staff from the Southland Civil Defence Emergency Management Group were also monitoring the situation.
A spokesman from the police southern communications centre in Christchurch said police had received calls from many people in the lower South Island since the quakes, but no damage or injuries had been reported.
There was no tsunami risk to New Zealand from the earthquake, the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management said.
Director John Hamilton said the ministry had received information about the earthquake from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) in Hawaii and GNS Science in New Zealand.
PTWC issued a bulletin stating that there was no tsunami risk to Pacific coastlines and GNS Science confirmed there was no localised tsunami.
Mr Chadwick said more aftershocks, probably around magnitude five, could be expected over the next couple of days.
Dunedin police Senior Sergeant Bruce Ross said, "We felt it (here), but there are no reports of injury or damage."
"We heard the blinds rattle a bit, but that was it," he added.
In Christchurch, Inspector Alan Weston said about 10 people had called shortly after the quake, but "we have no reports of damage or any injury".
