A ‘severe' earthquake detected to the north-east of Gisborne overnight is unlikely to have been felt – with the exception of science staff on Raoul Island.

Geonet seismologist Steve Sherbin confirmed that the quake happened at a depth of 30km, and registered 5.8 Richter scale. It was rated as severe in intensity, and struck 695km north-east of Gisborne in the Pacific Ocean.

The Raoul Island crater where last night's earthquake may have been felt. Phot: GNS Science.

A notification was sent out automatically within about a minute of the event occurring, says Steve today.

'It's clearly not going to be felt because nobody lives up there,” says Steve.

The location is on the boundary between the Australian and Pacific crustal plates.

'Since I came on duty on Monday morning there have been a series of earthquakes up there in the Kermadec Islands area, about half way between here and Tonga,” he confirms.

'It's normal. The whole plate boundary is seismically active all the way up to Tonga and beyond.

'It works out that an event of that depth and of that size is going to be felt, but it hasn't worked out because nobody actually lives up there.

'Having said that, it may have been felt on Raoul Island, but it would only have been felt by around twelve people.”

There are generally about a dozen scientific staff on Raoul Island, depending on the time of year.