Hawke's bay

Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa was welcomed to the region in an emotional Ava ceremony, one of the most significant customs in Samoan culture.

Seasonal workers, their bosses, church leaders and Samoan community members poured their hearts out, greeting Fiamē on her first official visit there.

Fiamē started her three-day trip to Aotearoa on Tuesday in Wellington, making it her first official bilateral trip abroad since becoming leader last year.

Geonet says the quake was centred 5km north of the town at a depth of 36km.

It occurred just before 5pm (local time).

Within 15 minutes more than 6000 people had registered their ratings of the quake on the Geonet website.

More than 1500 workers from the Pacific who were due to return home in May are still in the region, and with the season officially over there is little paid work.

The mental health and wellbeing of 117 Samoan workers employed by Johnny Appleseed in Hastings was now the company's biggest concern, operations manager Len Thompson said.

"There's depression, anxiety, and there's anger. The problem is there is no day set for their return."