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The earthquake occurred near the uninhabited Kermadec Islands, northeast of New Zealand. The USGS estimates its magnitude at 8.1 and its European equivalent EMSC at 7.9.
More than 50,000 people on the New Zealand mainland have reported feeling tremors as a result of the earthquake, the country’s media reports.
Up to three meters
The New Zealand Emergency Management Agency (Nema) has issued a tsunami alert for the entire coast of the country. The worst fear is that it could be in the northeastern coastal areas, where there are waves that could be between one and three meters high. Floods of some degree are expected.
Sirens sound along the beaches, according to the New Zealand Herald. People are urged to apply immediately on mountain terrain or at least inland.
“People evacuating should walk, run or bike to reduce the risk of getting caught in traffic,” Nema wrote on Twitter.
However, there are reports of traffic chaos in many places, as cars queue up to leave the larger cities of the Northeast.
People in boats at sea or by the sea are encouraged to seek safety in deeper waters, where they cannot be as bad.
“Maybe the great earthquake this year”
– Earthquakes of this magnitude we have perhaps once a year all over the earth. This may be the biggest earthquake this year, Björn Lund, a seismologist at Uppsala University, tells Ekot.
The earthquake, which occurred at a depth of 10,000 meters, is today the third in the region. The first earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.9, occurred in the middle of the night local time. The second, with a magnitude of 7.4, occurred a few hours later.
A wide tsunami warning has been issued for the entire Pacific area, as the waves could sooner or later hit the coasts in all directions, reports AFP.
Patrik Dokk / TT
Martin Mederyd Hårdh / TT
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