Two earthquakes, one of which was "very deep," rattled New Zealand's North Island in a span of four hours.

A moderate deep earthquake struck central New Zealand early Monday morning, following a very deep magnitude 5 earthquake that shook Taranaki Sunday night.

Geonet reported the magnitude 4.9 quake, which struck at 1:19 a.m., was centred within 5 km of Wanganui at a depth of 100 km.

Sunday evening's earlier quake struck at 9:07 p.m., 40 km south of New Plymouth at a depth of 330 km.

GNS Science says a magnitude 4.9 quake is not expected to cause damage.

Geonet received reports the quake was felt throughout the lower North Island and the top of the South Island.