BIG SHAKE, LITTLE DAMAGE
Tsunami warnings trigger evacuations
South Pacific earthquake causes brief tsunami threat.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — One of the strongest earthquakes to hit the South Pacific in modern history triggered tsunami warnings across the ocean and forced thousands of people in New Zealand to evacuate coastal areas Friday. Small tsunami waves were seen, but little damage was apparent hours later.
The magnitude 8.1 quake in the Kermadec Islands region about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from New Zealand’s two main islands was the largest in a series of temblors over several hours, including two earlier quakes that registered magnitudes 7.4 and 7.3.
The tsunami threat caused traffic jams and some chaos in New Zealand as people scrambled to get to higher ground.
Residents recorded videos of small wave surges in some places, including at Tokomaru Bay near Gisborne. In the afternoon, the National Emergency Management Agency said the threat had passed and people could return to their homes, although they should continue avoiding beaches.
One of the earlier quakes hit much closer to New Zealand and awoke many people as they felt a long rumbling shaking.
“Hope everyone is ok out there,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wrote on Facebook during the night.
After the largest quake, civil defense authorities in New Zealand told people in some coastal areas to immediately get to higher ground. They said a damaging tsunami was possible and that waves could reach up to 10 feet.
Emergency Management Minister Kiri Allan told reporters that people had followed the advisory.
“They felt the long or strong earthquakes, and they knew to grab their bag and head into the highlands,” she said. “I can only thank and acknowledge the tireless efforts of the men and women from up and down the coast who knew how to act, when to act and what to do.”
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cautioned the quake could cause tsunami waves of up to 10 feet in Vanuatu and up to 3 feet in Tonga, other South Pacific islands and Latin America’s Pacific coast.
Chilean authorities ordered people off beaches because of the potential for a tsunami along the nation’s long coastline. Guatemala issued a tsunami alert, and authorities in El Salvador ordered people to take precautions in recreational activities. Mexico said there was no threat.
Waves a foot above tide levels were measured by ocean gauges off the Pacific nation of Vanuatu; off Gisborne, New Zealand; and off anAustralian island. Smaller waves were measured elsewherein the South Pacific.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the strongest quake was centered near the Kermadec Islands at a depth of 12 miles (19 km).
Although the islands are uninhabited, New Zealand has built research and accommodation facilities there and often had scientists cycling through until the coronavirus hit last year. A large group of more than 100 people, including scientists and students, was due to stay on the islands this week, until they were forced to cancel because of a virus lockdown in Auckland, a spokesperson from the Department of Conservation said.
The USGS said in a report that the quake occurred at the intersection of the Pacific and Australia tectonic plates and eclipsed the largest quake previously recorded along the fault line, a magnitude 8.0 quake in 1976.
It said the interaction between the plates creates one of the most seismically active regions in the world, and it has recorded 215 quakes there above magnitude 6.0 overthe past century.
Jennifer Eccles, an earthquake expert at the University of Auckland, said the quake 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.