A 5.1M earthquake has struck the North Island at 5.39am.

The strong earthquake has a depth of 6km and was located 5km south of Te Aroha.

Within five minutes, over 20,000 reported on Geonet they had felt the quake, with nearly 10,000 recording their 'felt' report as 'light'.

Geonet shows that the quake was felt in the Auckland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Taranaki regions.

The quake woke people across Tauranga.

"Nothing like rocking and rolling awake …wow!! Whole house was shaking for several seconds," says a Bureta resident. "Quite sharp and sustained. Haven't felt anything like that since the aftershocks in Christchurch in. 2011. Quite unnerving."

A resident at Mount Maunganui woken by the quake says the sudden movement shook and swayed their two-storey apartment in Commons Ave.

"It was a sudden violent shaking with the whole apartment swaying quickly back and forth four or five times. It lasted a few seconds before stopping. Completely bounced me awake."

Minden resident Diana Durrant says their brick house shook.

"It woke me up with movement and rattles," says Diana.

Nearby in Te Puna, Corinne Elvin also says they felt the quake.

"We live in Katikati and just felt an earthquake it was pretty big our house just shock felt like a wave then a full shake for about a minute!" says Tyla Bull.

Did you feel the quake or experience any property damage?

Email us on newsroom@thesun.co.nz or phone 0800SUNLIVE.

Geonet image shows where the earthquake was felt.