January 24, 2021: A series of earthquakes have been recorded near Rotorua, New Zealand.
According to the GeoNet, around 70 tremors have been recorded across Bay of Plenty and Rotorua area.
The largest earthquake was measured 4.9 on the Richter Scale with the epicenter located around 20 km east of Rotorua.
At 7.57am an earthquake measuring 4.5 struck at a depth of 8 km, 20 km east of Rotorua.
There are dozens of earthquakes between 3.3 and 3.8 magnitude that are part of what GeoNet is calling a swarm - all centred in the same location.
GeoNet received more than 4,000 earthquake felt reports. While, the Earthquake Commission also received ten damage claims till the evening.
GeoNet twitter message
"This looks like a swarm - we often see these in this area (the Okataina volcanic centre), and there were small foreshocks yesterday. The last swarm with quakes of this size was in Rotoehu in July 2004."