3 massive earthquakes near New Zealand trigger tsunami warnings, send residents to higher ground
New Zealanders scrambled for higher ground Friday after three giant earthquakes struck near the island nation.
A 7.3 quake just off the northeast coast of the country’s North Island rattled people awake around 2:30 a.m. local time, the Associated Press reported. Buildings shook and items fell from shelves, but no one was killed or seriously injured.
Experts say that event was not connected to two even bigger quakes that struck about five hours later nearly 600 miles north, according to the Washington Post. A 7.4 foreshock preceded an 8.1 megaquake only an estimated 12 miles below the surface.
The magnitude 8.1 quake struck around 8:30 a.m. local time near the Kermadec Islands, which are uninhabited. Immediately afterward, authorities across the Pacific issued tsunami watches and warnings, stretching as far as Hawaii and Mexico.
“Evacuation advice overrides the current COVID-19 Alert Level requirements,” New Zealand emergency services said in an alert. “Do not stay at home.”
Thankfully, no giant waves killed anyone, and the warnings were canceled across the world, ending with New Zealand’s.
“The advice remains, for all areas under Beach and Marine threat, to stay off beach and shore areas,” authorities said. “We expect New Zealand coastal areas to continue to experience strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges.”
The last time three earthquakes stronger than magnitude 7.0 struck a single region in one day was in February 2013 near the Solomon Islands, according to U.S. Geologic Survey data. The quakes and ensuing tsunami killed at least nine people on the islands.
The prior occurrence was in March 2011 near Japan, when a 9.1 quake, several foreshocks and aftershocks, and a tsunami killed an estimated 20,000 people and triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
