Moderate quake shakes central New Zealand

A moderate 4.5 magnitude earthquake shook central New Zealand on Tuesday, but emergency services said there were no immediate reports of injury or damage.

A moderate 4.5 magnitude earthquake shook central New Zealand on Tuesday, but emergency services said there were no immediate reports of injury or damage.

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The temblor gently swayed high-rise buildings in the capital, Wellington, when it hit at 2248 GMT (0418 IST), seismological agency GNS Science said.

Located 40 kilometers northwest of Wellington at a depth of 110 kilometers, it was "felt in the Wellington, Nelson and Marlborough regions" of central New Zealand, the agency said on its Web site.

New Zealand sits above an area of the earth's crust where two tectonic plates collide and records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year-- but only about 150 are felt by residents.