New Zealand is hit by 7.3-magnitude earthquake triggering tsunami warning

A powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of New Zealand today, triggering warnings of a possible tsunami. 

New Zealanders who felt the quake on the coast of the North Island were told to flee to high ground or ‘as far inland as you can’ in the early hours of Friday local time. 

Witnesses described a ‘very long, swaying shake’ and houses making ‘cracking sounds’ in a tremor which some thought had lasted for as long as a minute, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.   

Tsunami waves were possible within 180 miles of the earthquake’s epicentre, the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre warned.   

The quake, which came less than an hour after a 3.7-magnitude rumble in the same area, was measured at 110 miles from the city of Gisborne. 

New Zealand’s emergency management agency told people living near the coast who felt a ‘long or strong quake’ to move inland or to high ground as soon as possible 

New Zealand’s emergency management agency said in a 3am update that it was ‘assessing whether [the earthquake] has created a tsunami that could affect New Zealand’. 

‘Anyone near the coast who felt a LONG or STRONG quake should MOVE IMMEDIATELY to the nearest high ground, or as far inland as you can,’ it said.  

The United States Geological Survey recorded the earthquake’s depth at six miles and said it had struck shortly before 2.30am New Zealand time. 

New Zealand recently marked the 10-year anniversary of 2011’s Christchurch earthquake which killed 185 people and wrecked large parts of the city. 

This month also marks a decade since the Pacific earthquake that triggered the Japanese tsunami and resulting Fukushima nuclear disaster.  

More to follow.