A sudden earthquake that hit New Zealand's capital, Wellington, on Friday, interrupted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern from answering a journalist's question while she was giving a briefing about the country's new vaccination plan. However, a few seconds later, Ardern resumed the briefing. 

5.9 magnitude #earthquake hits #NewZealand midway through a COVID update by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pic.twitter.com/odnc15d9ec

— Newsistaan (@newsistaan) October 21, 2021

After tightly gripping the podium, the Prime Minister turned back smiling at the journalist and said "Ah, sorry, a slight distraction, would you mind repeating that question?”

Geonet, which monitors geological hazards, reported that the earthquake's magnitude reached 5.9 at a depth of 210 km.

About 25,000 people had reported the shaking, as no significant damage has been recorded as a consequence.

Earthquakes are very common in New Zealand, especially in Wellington. In the past year, Geonet has recorded more than 1,350 earthquakes.

A decent shake just now felt across the North Island and upper South Island, with a M5.9 earthquake occurring 210 kilometres below the King Country. We have received over 25,000 felt reports. For more about this earthquake: https://t.co/wsgI5Tls32 pic.twitter.com/O1nCKF5Kv8

— GeoNet (@geonet) October 21, 2021

The city of Christchurch is still recovering from a 6.3-magnitude earthquake that happened in 2011 and killed 185 people.