The earthquake's epicentre was about 40 km (25 miles) north of Te Anau, which is the gateway to the tourist hotspot of Fiordland, according to New Zealand's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The agency initially assessed the quake, which struck at 9.14pm local time (0914 GMT), at magnitude 6.3 before revising it downward to 5.9.
Although the tsunami alert was cancelled, NEMA said it expected coastal areas to experience "strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore".
It said people should move out of the water, off beaches, and stay away from harbours, marinas and rivers.
Local resident Maylene Puyat, the duty manager at Te Anau's Fiordland Hotel, told Reuters the earth quake was "a bit strong" and she felt shaking for one minute.
"In the hotel, it's shaking, but nothing moved in the hotel," she said.
Another resident told local outlet Otago Daily Times the earthquake shaking was "long and loud" and sounded "like a train".
"The walls were definitely moving," they said.
There were more than 18,000 "felt reports" to hazard monitoring system GeoNet.
(Reporting by Sumedha Mukherjee and Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru and Christine Chen in Sydney; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Posted by: Alma Angeles/NET25 News
