WELLINGTON, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Eight earthquakes shook New Zealand's central North Island over a 12-hour period on Saturday, causing no casualties or damage, the GNS Science said.

    The quakes began at 1:01 a.m. (13:01 GMT Friday), with a tremor measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale, 10 km north-west of Turangi, at a depth of 3 km.

    Six further quakes shook the same location with the last at 10:54 a.m., according to New Zealand's Institute of Geological and Nuclear Science (GNS Science). All were at a depth of 5 km or less.

    At 12:40 p.m., an earthquake struck within 5 km of Turangi, measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale.

    GNS Science spokesperson Arthur Jolly said the region has been active for several weeks and the swarm is not unusual, but the quakes would have been felt because they were shallow.