New Zealand: 7.1-magnitude earthquake prompts tsunami warning in Kermadec Islands

New Zealand’s Kermadec Islands region has been hit by an earthquake of 7.1 magnitude on Thursday, prompting tsunami warnings.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said that quake was estimated at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles). A corresponding tsunami warning has been issued after the earthquake, it added.

But hours after the US Geological Survey issued tsunami warning for Kermadec islands, the New Zealand National Emergency Management Agency clarified, “there is no tsunami threat to New Zealand following the earthquake in the Southern Kermadec Islands.”

Reports in the New Zealand media suggest issuance of relevant rescue measures in the region. However, there is no tsunami threat to Australia, the country’s Bureau of Meteorology said in a tweet.

On March 4, an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 had struck the same Kermadec Islands region, with the quake depth reported at a depth of 152 km (94 miles), USGS said. There were conflicting reports as for the magnitude of the earthquake,

with the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre, estimating the magnitude at 6.6 at a depth of 183 km. On March 4 as well, no tsunami warning was issued after the quake.