- The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami alert with waves of up to one meter for New Zealand
A 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the waters of northeast New Zealand early Friday, triggering a tsunami alert , with no material damage or casualties initially reported.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), which monitors seismic activity around the world, located the hypocenter of the earthquake 10 kilometers below the seabed .
The same agency located the shock 178 kilometers northeast of Gisborn and 228 east of Whakatane, both cities on the North Island of the country.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning with waves of up to one meter for New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, for other Pacific countries such as Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Tonga and Vanuatu.
New Zealand sits on the fault between the Pacific and Oceania tectonic plates and records about 14,000 earthquakes each year, of which between 100 and 150 are powerful enough to be perceived.