Three quakes felt

A sizeable earthquake has rocked the top of the South Island, following two earthquakes that jolted the West Coast earlier in the day. According to Geonet the latest earthquake yesterday was 15 kilometres northeast of Kaiko¯ura and was magnitude.

4.3. The two earlier earthquakes that rocked the West Coast were with 10 minutes yesterday, around 1pm. According to Geonet, the first of those hit at a depth of 5 kilometres,

60km south of Hokitika, about

1.05pm. It was 4.5-magnitude. A

4.8-magnitude quake affected the same spot seven minutes later. More than 300 people reported feeling the jolts. Several smaller quakes were also reported in the area yesterday afternoon. GeoNet seismologist Natalie Balfour said there was no way of telling whether they were precursors to a bigger quake. The quakes came minutes after a ‘‘weak’’ earthquake near the Canterbury town of Methven. The 3.8-magnitude quake hit at a depth of 15 kilometres,

65 km north-west of the town.