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LOOKING TOWARDS THE COAST: John Fitzgerald (left), his wife Rita and their friends had to pack their car on vacation and hit the heights in Waitangi on Friday.
Tens of thousands of people in New Zealand and the Pacific islands of New Caledonia and Vanuatu had to evacuate after the major earthquakes in New Zealand.
On Thursday night, another powerful earthquake struck more than 1,000 kilometers northeast of the New Zealand coast, near the remote Kermadec Islands. Displays the overview of the US State Earthquake Watch (USGS).
The earthquake was registered at 8:28 p.m. Norwegian time and had a depth of 10 kilometers; force is measured in 8.1.
Soon after, three aftershocks occurred, with intensities ranging from 5.5 to 6.1, and tsunami waves were noted.
“Based on all available data, dangerous tsunami waves have been warned in some coastal areas,” the USGS warning center warned.
EARTHQUAKE: The light blue circle marks the 8.1 magnitude earthquake off the Kermadec Islands. Photo: Screenshot, USGS
The warning concerned the Pacific regions of Vanuatu and the French territory of New Caledonia.
In several of the advisories it has been reported that tsunami waves have already been recorded after the earthquake.
– Walk, run or ride a bike
New Zealand also shipped domestically tsunami warning, where they asked all residents along the east coast of the North Island to “evacuate immediately” and climb to the heights.
At around 1:30 p.m. Norwegian time on Friday, the warning was downgraded and the thousands of people who had been evacuated were able to return to their homes.
The tsunami warning came very early on Friday morning local time, and people rushed up after receiving the following message from the crisis agency NEMA:
– Walking, running or cycling if possible to reduce the risk of getting caught in traffic, says the civil defense, who points out that evacuation orders trump crown rules.
Roger Ball, acting director of the country’s crisis agency NEMA, says according to the New Zealand Herald that they do not take the evacuation order lightly, but that they see it as necessary.
– It can take lives and cause great damage. We want people to take this seriously.
– I hope everyone is well, especially on the east coast that felt the full force of the earthquake, writes Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand on Thursday night on Instagram.
– Occurs once a year
Earlier Thursday, several earthquakes were reported in the area, the strongest with a magnitude of 7.4 to 18.41.
– There is a very strong earthquake, but not completely unusual in this area either. These powerful earthquakes occur roughly once a year around the world. Down there, big earthquakes often happen – this is one of the big fault areas and therefore often has big shakes and big earthquakes, says research leader Volker Oye in Applied Seismology at NORSAR.
Before these earthquakes, another earthquake occurred off the coast of New Zealand with a magnitude of 6.9. Even then, a tsunami watch was issued, but it was finally lifted.
