New Zealand cancels tsunami warning after 7.4 quake

Updated 4 years ago · Published on 16 Jun 2019 8:09AM · 0 Comments

Photo taken on November 14, 2016 shows the bridge connecting the town of Waiau, 120km north of Christchurch, closed to traffic after a 7.8 magnitude quake struck shortly after midnight the night before. Rescuers in New Zealand scramble on November 15 to evacuate up to 1,200 tourists stranded by the earthquake that caused ‘utter devastation’ on the coast of the South Island. – AFP, June 16, 2019.

New Zealand authorities today said there was now no threat of a tsunami following a powerful 7.4 earthquake which struck near the uninhabited Kermadec islands north of the country, in an update to their earlier advice.

An initial message from New Zealand’s Civil Defence organisation said “strong and hazardous currents and unpredictable surges are expected near the shore” but minutes later it said there was no threat of a tidal wave to the country.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre also initially said small tsunami waves were possible for parts of the South Pacific but updated its advice to say there was now no tsunami threat.

The earthquake struck at 10.55am (2255GMT Saturday) some 928km north-northeast of the New Zealand city of Tauranga in North Island at a depth of 34 km. – AFP, June 16, 2019.