Strong earthquake strikes off New Zealand; no reports of damage

A 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of New Zealand's North Island on Tuesday, just over a week after a damaging earthquake hit the South Island, killing two people.

    Monitoring agency GeoNet said Tuesday's strong intensity quake was centred 70 kilometres south east of the small township of Porangahau, off the east coast of the North Island at a depth of 30 kilometres.    There were no initial reports of damage, according to German press agency (dpa).

    New Zealand has experienced more than 4,000 aftershocks since a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the east coast of the South Island just after midnight on November 14, causing widespread damage to roads, bridges and railway lines in the region.

Source: QNA