Wanaka was rocked by a 5.9 magnitude earthquake centred 35km west of Milford Sound at 10.20am this morning.

The quake has been felt across the lower South Island and comes 2 weeks after a 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck in the same location.

GeoNet describes the earthquake as moderate with thousands of 'felt it' reports within minutes of the event. Wanaka locals described a long rolling feeling lasting over 30 seconds.

The earthquake was 5km deep.