Cyclone and earthquake hit New Zealand

New Zealand was this week rocked by two massive natural disasters.

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck on Wednesday just days after a powerful cyclone hit the country killing four people including a child.

Authorities immediately announced a national state of emergency. It is only the third time in the country’s history to do so after the 2019 Christchurch attacks and the pandemic.

The "strong" quake struck at a depth of 48km in the capital of Wellington shortly after 7.30pm local time.

The epicentre is 50km from the town of Paraparaumu, according to the Government seismic monitor Geonet.

Cyclone Gabrielle landed on Monday with four left dead including a child caught in rising water in Hawke’s Bay on Tuesday.

Over 10,000 people were also left without homes while so far 1,442 have been reported missing in the North Island as of Wednesday afternoon.

Over 3,000 people were fed a barbecue by emergency responders on Wednesday night in the Hawke’s Bay town of Wairoa.

“They’ll keep cooking into the night until either they run out of people to feed or they run out of food,” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said.

The body of a volunteer firefighter was retrieved on Wednesday from a landslide that destroyed a flooded house near Auckland, according to a police statement.