NEW ZEALAND PEOPLE GOT PANICKED AFTER TSUNAMI THREAT

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - On Thursday night one of the biggest earthquakes hit the South Pacific, near the coast of New Zealand and Friday morning, it triggered tsunami warnings across the world, but it got stuck in a remote ocean, so it didn’t appear.

The 8.1 quake was the most powerful series of tremors that hit some 620 miles northeast of New Zealand on Friday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It also includes two earlier quakes that registered magnitude 7.4 and magnitude 7.3.

Later on Friday small tsunami waves were seen, but no reports of serious danger were seen.

Jennifer Eccles, an earthquake expert at the University of Auckland, said the 8.1 temblor was at the top end of the scale for those involving only the Earth’s ocean crust.

“This is about as big as it gets,” she said.

Because earthquakes triggered warning systems, traffic jams, and some chaos caused in New Zealand as people scramble to get higher grounds.

On Friday morning following the 8.1 quakes, New Zealand’s civil defense authorities told people in certain areas on the East Coast of the North Island, that they should not stay in their homes and should move to the higher ground. They said the damaging tsunami was possible.

New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency tweeted, “People near the coast from the BAY OF ISLANDS to WHANGAREI, from MATATA to TOLAGA BAY, and GREAT BARRIER ISLAND must MOVE IMMEDIATELY to nearest high ground, out of all tsunami evacuation zones, or as far inland as possible,” they wrote.

“Hope everyone is ok out there,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wrote on Facebook.

For Hawaii, the tsunami watch which had been issued was got canceled on Thursday afternoon. For the U.S. West Coast, there was no threat.

For coastal areas after the first shallow, powerful earthquake struck off its northeastern coast Thursday night, an advisory had issued by the officials in New Zealand.

"We expect New Zealand coastal areas to experience strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore," New Zealand's National Emergency Management Agency tweeted.

The first quake was centered at a depth of13 miles under the ocean about 108 miles northeast of the city of Gisborne. Residents of Gisborne reported light to moderate shaking, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

In 2011, a 6.3 magnitude quake hit the New Zealand city of Christchurch. The quake killed 185 people and destroyed much of its downtown.

Author: Sweta Mishra

Editor: Shrestha Adhikari

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