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Magnitude 5.9 quake rocks New Zealand’s Taupo region

28 January 2011 04:29 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A 5.9-magnitude earthquake rocked New Zealand’s Taupo region early Friday morning and was felt throughout the North Island, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

The quake was located 30 km north of Taupo at a depth of 150 km, New Zealand’s Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences reported.

It struck at 4:02 a.m. local time, and was felt as far north as Auckland and as far south as the Marlborough Sounds.

GNS said the quake was significant but unlikely to have caused much structural damage to buildings.

It was the second earthquake in the region in 24 hours, another at 6:19 p.m.on Thursday measured magnitude 3.5.

That was 5 km deep and was 40 km east of Taupo.