Grieving family members have identified the body pulled from a Wairarapa river as that of a missing 19-year-old swimmer.

Tegan Gadsby, 7, was gutted to find her early Christmas present from her nana destroyed.

Rural fire crews are satisfied a scrub fire on the South Wairarapa coast has been put out, but are checking regularly for flare-ups.

The severe earthquake which rocked NZ this afternoon sent workers in Wellington running into the streets as the ground shook and buildings swayed from side to side.

Marlborough and Wellington residents tell their stories of today's earthquake and its aftermath.

A series of aftershocks have rumbled across central New Zealand this morning, sparked by a strong magnitude 4.9 jolt near Seddon, Marlborough shortly before 1am.

A shallow 4.2 magnitude earthquake has been detected near East Cape, after a strong aftershock near Wellington this morning.

Residents have cleared out of a central Wellington street while urgent work is carried out on a quake-damaged carpark lift which could come crashing down in an aftershock.

More than 1000 claims have been lodged with the Earthquake Commission following the swarm of quakes centred off the Seddon coast.

A brazen thief distracted staff and stole money from a young Greytown boy's fundraiser for his sick grandfather.

A mother and daughter have been winched to safety from a rocky ledge on Wairarapa's remote south coast.

A judge has commended a grieving woman and the man responsible for her partner's death during an emotional court hearing following a fatal road accident.

A Masterton couple helped to raise more than $5000 for the Grace Yeats Trust after they read a newspaper article about the Grace's Oil of Gratitude fundraising initiative last December.

A Wairarapa man got more than he bargained for when he took his two dogs walking at Lake Domain.

The AA has defended its hard line on driving tests as Wairarapa parents complain about young drivers failing their tests for what they claim are minor reasons.

Farms, homes and roads would be totally submerged in a massive dam lake under proposed irrigation plans for Wairarapa.

A pine forest fire in South Wairarapa may have destroyed trees worth at least $1 million. The blaze at Pahaoa Rd, east of Martinborough, had engulfed at least 100ha by yesterday afternoon.

Six helicopters with monsoon buckets and seven ground firecrews battled a rapidly moving pine forest fire on Pahaoa Rd, east of Martinborough, yesterday that had engulfed 30 hectares by midday and was still burning.