Reports are coming in from central New Zealand – that is the lower North Island, where Wellington is, and the top of the South Island  – about damage from a powerful 6.5 earthquake that struck at 5:09pm local time. This has come after two days of smaller quakes, all centred around the Cook Strait. There have been no reports of casualties and the worst damage reported so far is the collapse of a concrete facade in central Wellington and damage to one of the ferry wharves. Citizens are on high alert however. TORN readers concerned about the situation can follow it on Stuff or on Radio New Zealand Quakes are tracked on GeoNet We are unaware of any impact on the Hobbit film production at this point.