Moderate quake strikes New Zealand

Wellington, Sep 20: A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck a few hundred kilometres off the southern coast of New Zealand on Wednesday, the country's seismic service said.

According to Geonet, the quake hit at 1.43 p.m., 585 km south-west of Invercargill at a depth of 12 km. It caused moderate tremors, Xinhua news agency reported.

It was initially classified as a strong quake of 6.1 magnitude, but has since been classified as moderate.

A few places across the south island may have felt the shake.