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A moderate earthquake shook French Pass and was felt in Nelson (file photo).
The upper south was rocked by a 4.8 magnitude earthquake near French Pass on Friday afternoon.
According to GeoNet, the earthquake occurred at 3.32 pm, measured 4.8 on the Richter scale and at a depth of 54 km, 10 km east of French Pass in the Marlborough Sounds.
An aftershock of magnitude 4.1 was also reported at approximately 3.53 pm at approximately the same location and depth.
The earthquake was widely felt in Nelson, Marlborough, and Wellington.
Staff at the Brick Oven bakery in Rai Valley, 30 km from the epicenter, had different responses to the seismic event.
Of the four staff members working at the time of the earthquake, only two said they felt the shaking.
Chelsea Partridge was sitting on her break when she felt the shaking, which took a few seconds for her to realize what was happening.
At the Captain’s Daughter pub in Havelock, staff member Demi McQuarrie said the earthquake lasted only a few seconds.
“Where we were it was more like the ground was vibrating, it seemed like most of the customers felt it.”
A police spokeswoman said no damage had been reported from the earthquake.
More to come …
