New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission (EQC) said today about 60 claims have been lodged by homeowners hours after a 5.8-magnitude quake struck near the town of Levin, 50km north of Wellington.

The quake struck at around 7:53am NZ time this morning and there have been at least 45 aftershocks since then, according to various local media reports.

“This was a slab event, relatively deep, the energy was widely dispersed and therefore felt across the country,” EQC Deputy CEO Renee Walker said. “It has triggered close to 37,000 felt reports to Geonet, which I understand is a record.

“By 3pm today, nearly 60 homeowners have lodged a claim for damage with us.”

She urged affected homeowners to lodge claims online with the EQC or call for more information as soon as they can.