Thousands of people off the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island have fled their homes and moved to higher ground inland, while Oceania’s largest city, Auckland, has been put on alert. from three consecutive strong earthquakes (7.2, 7.4 and 8.1 degrees) in the open, which led to the issuance of tsunami warnings.
Workers, students and residents of areas such as Northland and Bay of Plenty, with the help of civil protection officials, left en masse as seismic waves raised concerns that it could reach three meters above the flood level.
A warning was issued for all coastal areas around Auckland, a city of 1.7 million people, and citizens were advised to stay away from the coastline.
No damage or injuries were reported from the quake, which struck near the remote and uninhabited Kermandek Islands.
«The first wave may not be the biggestGNS seismologist Bill Fry warned during an emergency press conference in the capital, Wellington. “The tsunami will continue for several hours and the threat must be considered real until the warning is lifted,” he added.
Civil Protection Minister Kiri Alan stressed in the same press conference that “we ask the people who moved to higher altitude areas or inland islands to stay where they are until we officially inform them that everything is fine.”
Warnings have been issued for various parts of the Pacific, from the Tonga Islands, American Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Hawaii, to Chile. Australian authorities have issued a warning for Norfolk Island (1,750 inhabitants), but not for Australia itself. The waves may reach as far as Japan, Russia and Mexico.
Earthquakes continue to be recorded in the area, after the three strong vibrations, the last and strongest of which occurred at 08:28 (local time; at 21:28 yesterday, Thursday, Greek time).
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