Two strong earthquakes at a magnitude of 5.9 and 5.3 have struck near Porangahau in the lower North Island.
GeoNet said the first was the magnitude 5.9 which hit about 10.16am at a depth of 22km.
It was followed three minutes later by the magnitude 5.3 one, which was at a depth of 15km.
On GeoNet's website, about 22,000 people reported having felt the first and about 20,000 reported feeling the second.
The National Emergency Management Agency has confirmed there is no tsunami risk from the earthquakes.
Ongoing aftershocks have continued since the initial two, with the largest being a magnitude 4.3 that hit about 10.28am.
Farmer Gretchen King said they got a lot of earthquakes in the rural Hawke's Bay settlement, but this was the strongest one they had ever felt.
"It was fairly big, doors swinging, we've lost some pictures from walls, I think a few other things have fallen and hit the ground."
The earthquakes did not feel nearly as strong as those in Christchurch, but were big enough they felt they should take action, King said.
"It was enough to make us actually go and sit in the car, because we decided that having heard some of the terrible stories from Christchurch we didn't really want to hang around and wait inside with things falling about if we didn't have to."
Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Alex Walker told Nine to Noon it was good to see people following safety guidance without waiting for official confirmation.
"I want to thank all of those that did self-evacuate on the message of 'if it's long and strong, get gone', and our community out there have taken that seriously."
The earthquakes had disturbed the community, which had already suffered damage from Cyclone Gabrielle earlier this year, Walker said.
"This is not the kind of wake up call we needed this morning. We do need to keep alert but what is happening in Porangahau at the moment is community spirit is relatively high.
"They're working together in their recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle, so their networks of how to connect together and look after [each other] as a community is particularly strong at the moment and council and Civil Defence will continue to wrap around them as we deal with it."
There had been reports of content damage inside properties, but they were not aware of any structural damage as of yet, Walker said.
"Our community there is also spread, we've got residential community who live in Whangaehu coastal community as well as our rural areas out there so we're just making sure we're getting a clear picture of what's happened on the ground, but everybody seems to be okay at the moment which is great."
GeoNet advised on its website that a landslide may be triggered by earthquakes, with homes near hills or steep slopes most at risk. If you live near a hill or steep slope, watch out for cracks or movement that could be a warning sign.
"If people need emergency help, they do need to ring 111 emergency services if they are in strife," Walker said.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/488690/magnitude-5-point-9-and-5-point-3-earthquakes-shake-lower-north-island
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