7-magnitude quake hits New Zealand Wellington: An undersea quake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck New Zealand but there was no report of damage or casualty, authorities said Wednesday. The tremor occurred around 10.30 p.m. Tuesday off south Taranaki coast, Xinhua quoted the geological agency GNS Science as saying. The epicentre was located at sea, 170 km from Wellington. The quake wasfelt in Napier, Dunedin and Wellington, among other places..