An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck off the coast in New Zealand North Island's Bay of Plenty region on Wednesday afternoon.

It hit 90 km north of White Island, 230 km east of Auckland at 5.14 p.m. (04:14 GMT) at a depth of 280 km, New Zealand's Institute of Geological and Nuclear (GNS) Science said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damages.

The deep earthquake was widely felt across the North Island.

The Hawaii-base Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami alert after the quake.

It was the second largest record quake in New Zealand this year after the 7.1 quake which struck Canterbury on Sept. 4.