The earthquake struck at 5:09 pm on Sunday 21 July 2013 (05:09 UTC) at a depth of 13 kilometres (8 mi), according to GeoNet.

[3] The quake caused moderate damage in the wider Marlborough area and Wellington, the nation's capital city 55 kilometres (34 mi) north of the epicentre.

[20] The Wellington Region Emergency Management Office was activated on the evening of 21 July, as were those in the lower part of the North Island.

[18] On 22 July parts of Wellington's central business district were closed to the public to allow for inspections to buildings with damaged and potentially dangerous façades.

[21] Four people were injured in the quake, which lasted for 20 seconds, blowing out windows, cracking concrete and swaying buildings.