The USGS is reporting a magnitude 6.8 earthquake off of the coast of the South Island of New Zealand, near the inlet to Milford Sound and 64 miles from Queenstown (which is a way inland).
You can get an idea of where it was from this Google Map link and it looks like the coastal area is all national park, with no settlements marked.
I felt that quake and I’m halfway up the South Island of New Zealand around 55km inland towards the Southern Alps from Christchurch. That was a biggie… been a few recently… people are starting to talk about “the big one” ….
There was a mag 6.0 quake about 8 hours later just inland from the previous quake. As with any active region like this it’s just a matter of time before a “big one”!
Felt a large after-shock at around 10.30am this morning (NZ Time) – measured 6.4 again at a depth of just 5km.
Here in NZ there are rumours that we should expect “the big one” and that there’s a lot of pressure building under North Island volcano’s. Mind you, they’ve been saying that for years 😉
Helen Leggatt