One of the strongest earthquakes to hit the South Pacific in modern history has caused tsunami warnings across the ocean, forcing thousands of people in New Zealand to evacuate coastal areas on Friday. Small tsunami waves were seen, but hours later there was little damage.
The 8.1 magnitude earthquake in the Kermadec Islands, about 620 miles from New Zealand, was the largest in a series of quakes over several hours, including two early 7.4 magnitude earthquakes. and a strength of 7.3.
The tsunami threat caused traffic jams and chaos in New Zealand as people scrambled to get higher.
Residents recorded videos of small wave waves in some places, including at Tokomaru Bay near Gisborne. In the afternoon, the National Emergency Management Agency said the threat had passed and that people could return to their homes, although they should continue to avoid beaches.
George Novak / AP
One of the earlier quakes struck much closer to New Zealand and woke many people up when they felt a long, rumbling feeling. “Hope everyone is well out there,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wrote on Facebook during the night.
After the biggest earthquake, New Zealand’s civil defense authorities told people in some coastal areas to get higher immediately. They said a damaging tsunami was possible, and waves could reach up to 10 feet.
Emergency Management Minister Kiri Allan told reporters that people were following the advice.
“They felt the long or strong earthquakes and knew they were grabbing their bag and the highlands,” she said. “I can only thank the tireless efforts of men and women from up and down the coast and acknowledge who knew how to act, when to act and what to do.”
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has warned that the quake could cause tsunami waves of up to 10 feet in Vanuatu and up to 3 feet in Fiji, French Polynesia and as far as Mexico and Peru.
1-foot waves were measured by oceanometers in Vanuatu, New Zealand and islands outside Australia.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the strongest earthquake was centered near the remote Kermadec Islands at a depth of 20 km.
The agency said in a report that the quake struck at the intersection of the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates and obscured the largest earthquake previously recorded in the region, a magnitude of 8.0 in 1976. It is said that the interaction between the plates is one of the most seismic. active regions in the world, and there have been 215 earthquakes over the past century above the magnitude of 6.0.
Jennifer Eccles, an earthquake expert at the University of Auckland, said the quake was at the top of the scale for those who are only concerned with the earth’s sea crust.
“It’s about as big as it gets,” she said.
She said most quakes larger than 8.0 tend to occur when a portion of the more solid continental crust is involved.
According to the US Geological Survey, the 7.4 magnitude earthquake was probably a ‘shock’ that contributed to the larger earthquake, but that the first earthquake that struck closer to New Zealand was too far in time and distance to reach directly at to wear.
The first earthquake was at a depth of 13 kilometers under the ocean, about 108 kilometers northeast of the city of Gisborne. It is widely felt in New Zealand, and residents of the major cities of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch have reported being woken up.
In 2011, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake shook the city of Christchurch, killing 185 people and destroying much of the city center.