Magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocks New Zealand’s Kermadec Islands

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

New Zealand’s Kermadec Islands region was hit with an earthquake of 7.1 magnitude, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said on Thursday.

The quake was estimated at a depth of 10km, the agency added. Issuing an alert for hazardous waves for some coast, US Tsunami Warning System said, “tsunami waves reaching 0.3m to 1m above the tide level are possible for some coasts of Kermadec Islands.

“Tsunami waves are forecast to be less than 0.3m above the tide level for the coasts of Fiji, New Zealand and Tonga.”

However, the National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) and the Bureau of Meteorology confirmed there was no tsunami threat to mainland New Zealand and Australia.

“There is no tsunami threat to New Zealand following the M7.0 earthquake in the Southern Kermadec Islands,” Civil Defence New Zealand said on Thursday.

“Remember, if an earthquake is long or strong, get gone,” they said.