A large earthquake has struck in the Pacific Ocean tonight.

The quake measured 7.6 on the Richter scale and was centred about 900 kilometres northeast of New Zealand and several hundred kilometres southwest of Tonga.

©USGS


The earthquake was felt in parts of the North Island including Wellington and Gisborne.

The quake occurred at 8:28pm at a depth of 188km.

There are currently no reports of damage and no threat of a tsunami.