Thousands Of New Zealanders Evacuated After A 3 Meter Height Tsunami Warning

Auckland. (Wikimedia Commons/Craig)

JAKARTA - Thousands of New Zealanders on the east coast of the country's North Island were evacuated to higher ground on Friday, March 5. Major cities were put on alert after three earthquakes rocked the country in less than eight hours and triggered a tsunami warning system.

Workers, students, and residents in areas such as Northland and the Bay of Plenty, on the north coast near Auckland, were assisted by civil defense officials because authorities said tsunami waves could reach three meters (10 feet) above high tide.

Meanwhile, an emergency warning was issued for all coastal areas around Auckland, a city of 1.7 million people, where people are being asked to stay away from the water's edge. There were no reports of damage or casualties from the earthquake.

"The first wave maybe not the largest," said Bill Fry, a seismologist at the GNS geoscience agency, at a televised news conference in the capital, Wellington, as reported by Reuters.

"Tsunami activity will continue for several hours, and the threat must be considered real until this warning is canceled," he added.

The latest earthquake was measuring 8.1 magnitudes and struck the Kermadec Islands, northeast of New Zealand's North Island. This happened shortly after an earthquake of magnitude 7.4 in the same region. Previously, an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 struck about 900 kilometers (540 miles) away to the east of the North Island.

New Zealand's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the areas threatened by tsunami waves were from the Bay of Islands to Whangarei, from Matata to Tolaga Bay including Whakatane and Opotiki and Great Barrier Island.

"This is a dynamic event, it continues to develop. We ask those who have moved to the highlands or the inlands to stay where they are until all officials are clearly assigned,” Left Civil Defense Minister Allan said at the same press conference.