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The three quakes were the largest in New Zealand's biggest city since 1970.

They occurred in the space of three hours centred about 30km east of Orewa, north of Auckland.

GNS Science said they were widely felt because of their shallow nature.

The first, measuring 3.7 on the richter scale, occurred at 8.20pm at a depth of 6km, the second 40 minutes later measured 4.5 at depth of 15km.

The last and biggest at 11.23pm measured 3.8 and had a focal depth of 7km.

One woman described the quake as like having "invisible elephants" running along her deck and around the house.

A west Auckland couple told the New Zealand Herald their house shook for about five seconds "in an almost circular motion".

"The movement was just like the simulator at Te Papa, so the museum curators really got it right," they said.

A 13-year-old Remuera girl said the earthquake was very scary.

"I saw the curtains and the television moving and was getting worried, shaking and was about to cry.

"I thought it would never end although it only lasted about two or three seconds."

A resident of an Auckland tower block of apartments said the entire floor shook, glass vibrated in the internal walls and outer windows for several minutes.

Damage appeared to be minimal. One man reported a broken window and others said pictures and mirrors fell off the wall.

There was also some minor telephone faults and some lifts in inner city Auckland apartments failed to work.

David Agnew of Birkenhead, told the Herald everyone in his street raced outside.

Other residents said it was a timely reminder to brush up on what they should do if a big earthquake struck.

GNS seismologist Bryan Field said he couldn't remember the last time Auckland had such a big earthquake.

One measuring 4.7 on the Richter Scale had occurred in 1970, but it had been southeast of the city.

Dr Field told Radio New Zealand the earthquakes weren't a sign of volcanic activity.

"For a start the earthquakes are tectonic earthquakes, so they're just caused by normal faults - the volcanic earthquakes look very different.

"And these earthquakes happened about 30 to 40km north of where the volcanic field is."

Meanwhile, quake-hardened Wellingtons weren't fazed by a 4.4-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Picton, which was felt in the capital at 12.41pm yesterday.

GNS received "five or six" calls from concerned residents to report the quake, Dr Field said.

The Auckland cluster of quakes, however, had resulted in about 1500 reports to the GNS website, he said.

"I think because Auckland doesn't have as many...it's a bit more scary.

(SNZ)