HONG KONG, March 25 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 jolted 159 km WSW of Riverton, New Zealand, at 01:43:11 GMT on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 46.70 degrees south latitude and 166.00 degrees east longitude.