More than 38,000 people reported feeling a magnitude 5.8 earthquake which hit the North Island on Wednesday night.

The quake took place at 11.49pm, and was centred about 25km east of Stratford at a depth of 187km.

Reports of the quake flooded GeoNet immediately after it hit, with tens of thousands of people reporting feeling it within 15 minutes.

The quake has been classified as light, and the vast majority of GeoNet reports reflect that, categorising it as light or weak.