An earthquake measuring 6 on the Richter scale has been recorded 60km north of White Island, off the coast of Whakatane.
Although significant in magnitude, the quake at 12.18pm on Tuesday afternoon was at a depth of 250 kilometres.
GNS Science says the tremor was centred about 100km from both Tauranga and Whangamata.
White Island, New Zealand's most active cone volcano, was last in a state of frequent eruption from 1976 to 2000.
