Magnitude-7.8 quake shakes Kermadec Islands

[HeartNsoul]

NEW YORK (AP) — A powerful magnitude-7.8 earthquake rattled New Zealand's remote Kermadec Islands in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. A local tsunami warning was issued.

The volcanic Kermadec Island peaks are a remote outpost that are generally uninhabited aside from a weather station and a hostel for visiting New Zealand scientists.

The 7:03 a.m. Thursday (1903 GMT Wednesday) quake was 29.8 miles (48 kilometers) deep, the USGS said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, a U.S. agency, issued a warning for possible tsunami damage in the Keramecs, Tonga and New Zealand. It said a tsunami measured at 2.2 feet (0.68 meters) was measured at Raoul Island in the Kermadecs.

The Kermadecs are about 570 miles (920 kilometers) south of Tonga, the nearest major island, and are 736 miles (1185 kilometers) northeast of Auckland, New Zealand.

[Blavatsky]

A tsunami warning issued for New Zealand following a 7.6 magnitude earthquake off the Kermadec Islands has been cancelled, but a 'marine threat' remains.

A Auckland Civil Defence spokesman has told Radio New Zealand there is a marine threat with the first wave hitting Auckland around 10am.

This provisional advice means that damage to land is unlikely - but there could be a risk to boats. The first wave will not necessarily be the biggest and this advice could change.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre earlier issued a warning for New Zealand, Tonga and the Kermadec Islands.

The United States Geological Survey reported the quake struck at 7.03am at a depth of 20km, and was centred 211km east of Raoul Island.

John Bellini, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Centre, said it was uncertain if a tsunami was on the way to New Zealand.

Any wave would strike the East Cape around 9.00 am and Auckland around 10.00am.

The Kermadec Islands are a island chain 800km north of New Zealand.