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WELLINGTON: A powerful series of underwater earthquakes rocked northeast New Zealand on Friday, but tsunami waves that forced many people in the North Island of the country to flee to high ground that they passed without causing substantial damage.
Authorities warned that waves could reach three meters (10 feet) above high tide levels after the earthquakes, the strongest at magnitude 8.1, but the threat had passed in the afternoon, said the National Agency for Emergency Management (NEMA).
“It’s hard not to feel like our country is having a streak of bad luck, when you have a earthquake, tsunami and pandemic to face in a single day, “said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda ardern saying.
Video images posted on social media showed waves of water entering a marina in Northland and the East Cape region of the North Island.
Earlier on Friday, workers, students and residents in areas such as Northland and the Bay of Plenty, on the north shore near Auckland, fled coastal cities for higher ground after the three earthquakes, which occurred in a span of eight. hours, they unleashed loud sirens and tsunami warnings. evacuate via text messages.
An emergency alert was issued for coastal areas around the South Pacific country of 5 million, with people to stay away from the water’s edge. There were no reports of damage or casualties from the earthquakes.
The third and strongest earthquake struck the Kermadec Islands, a group of mostly uninhabited islands about 800 kilometers northeast of the North Island, on Friday morning, shortly after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in the same region. . Previously, a large 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck east of the North Island.
Linda Tatare, a resident of Anaura Bay, on the east coast of the North Island, said the small community of about 50 people went to higher ground in the morning.
“Everyone, and their dogs, are in the hills,” Tatare told Reuters.
“We are safe. We can all see our properties from here.”
Tsunami warnings were also issued for the Pacific islands, including New Caledonia and Vanuatu, while smaller tsunami waves can be recorded as far away as Antarctica and parts of South America, the Tsunami Warning Center said. US Pacific
Friday’s series of earthquakes was caused by tectonic movement at the boundary of the Australia-Pacific plates, part of the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire on which New Zealand sits.
A decade ago, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake killed 185 people in the South Island city of Christchurch.
Australia issued a navy tsunami threat for Norfolk Island, a small Australian territory with around 1,750 residents, but said there was no threat to the mainland.
Norfolk Island residents in areas threatened by inland flooding or flooding were advised to go to higher ground or inland, the Bureau of Meteorology said, as small tsunami waves impacted the shoreline.
