By New Zealand correspondent Kerri Ritchie for AM

AM | abc.net.au/am

Police in New Zealand say there have been numerous reports of damage
after an earthquake struck the South Island last night.

The quake measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and caused a  tsunami of 17
centimetres in the southern Fiordland region.

A tsunami warning was issued in New Zealand, but was cancelled shortly
afterwards when only tiny wave - a 17-centimetre one - was detected.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key says he is relieved no one died.

The biggest earthquake ever recorded in New Zealand was in 1931 in
Hawkes Bay. It was a magnitude 7.8.

But last night's tremors rattled the nerves of South Islanders.

Bill Verrall from Te Anau, near Queenstown, says the tremors lasted for
several minutes.

"I was in the bathtub when this happened. I got out of there and under a
doorway," he said.

"The lights went out when that happened. You wouldn't have wanted to be
here."

Policeman Olaf Jensen says the tremors gave his police station a good shake.

"[It] wasn't a sharp quake, but it was a rolling earthquake," he said.

"It would have lasted approximately about a minute.

"The building at Invercargill station sort of swayed for some
considerable time afterwards. It was a timely reminder."

Widespread impact

The shocks were felt as far north as Wellington, which is on the other
island.

Food fell off supermarket shelves in Queenstown and power and phone
lines were cut.

Simon Wilson lives in the city of Invercargill and says the quake was
unnerving.

"It went for a long time. It was sort of a rolling one, but it was quite
a large motion that everything was moving," he said.

"The whole house was moving, the door was moving and the door frame -
and the fence posts ware moving. It was a big one."

Special effects?

A lot of New Zealanders were up late last night watching the mid-week
premier of the newest instalment in the Harry Potter film series, Harry
Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

Some people rang in to the TV station saying that at first they thought
the rolling sensation was part of the film.

For some the earthquake meant more work.

Andrew Dooley, who runs a shop in Queenstown, had to mop up what the
quake left behind.

"Everything started going ballistic, I wasn't sure whether to be
excited," he said.

"That was just wicked, not knowing whether the signs would come down.

"Stuff was coming off the the shelves, they were coming down off the
shelves like missiles, as I'm mopping I felt dizzy."

Locals say it was more of a rolling quake rather than a sharp jolt.

But Deborah May from Dunedin was still very worried about her kids.

"It was about 9:30 tonight, I was on the couch, I started feeling this
swaying motion," she said.

"Nothing really huge thank God. There was a swaying feeling and I
thought the roof was going to collapse ... what should I do with the kids?"

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