Tsunami excluded after 7.2-magnitude earthquake in New Zealand

Shafaq News/ A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the east of New Zealand’s North Island prompting a tsunami warning.

"We have issued a NATIONAL ADVISORY: TSUNAMI ACTIVITY following the magnitude 7.3 earthquake near EAST OF THE NORTH ISLAND NEW ZEALAND. We expect New Zealand coastal areas to experience strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore.” The National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) said on Twitter.

On a possible Tsunami, the Agency added, “Based on current scientific advice and information from coastal tsunami gauges there is no longer a threat to land areas. People who have evacuated can now return home.”

So far, no reports of serious damage or casualties, but Nema advised people in some coastal areas to move immediately to high ground.

Local civil defence authorities said the tsunami threat would continue for several hours.

“Coastal inundation (flooding of land areas) is expected in areas under land and marine threat,” Nema tweeted.

The closest major city to the epicenter is Gisborne, with a population of about 35,500. People near the coast from Cape Runaway to Tolaga Bay were told to evacuate.

“Hope everyone is OK out there – especially on the East Coast who would have felt the full force of that earthquake,” the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, posted on Instagram.

More than 60,000 people reported feeling the quake on GeoNet’s website, with 282 people describing the shaking as “severe” and 75 saying it was “extreme”.