An earthquake has hit the Bay of Plenty in the early hours of this morning.

It had a focal depth of 5km and registered 2.6 on the richter scale.

A 2.6 magnitude earthquake has struck in the Bay of Plenty.

It struck the north-west region of Matata at around 12am this morning.

GeoNet is reporting it may have been felt in the wider Bay of Plenty region.

This is just one of a series of quakes that have hit the region in recent weeks.