Powerful quake hits off New Zealand, prompting evacuations

 WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- one among the most important earthquakes to hit the South Pacific in modern history forced thousands of individuals in New Zealand to evacuate and triggered tsunami warnings across the planet Friday, but it didn't appear to cause injuries or major damage because it struck in remote ocean.

The magnitude 8.1 quake was the most important during a series of tremors that hit the region over several hours, including two earlier quakes that registered magnitude 7.4 and magnitude 7.3.

The earthquakes triggered warning systems and caused traffic jams and a few chaos in New Zealand as people scrambled to urge to higher ground, but their remoteness meant they didn't appear to pose a widespread threat to lives or infrastructure.

The largest quake struck about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) off the coast of latest Zealand. one among the sooner quakes hit much closer to New Zealand and awoke many of us as they felt an extended , rumbling shaking.

“Hope most are ok out there,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wrote on Facebook during the night.

After the most important quake, protection authorities in New Zealand told people in some coastal areas to right away get to higher ground. They said a harmful tsunami was possible, and waves could reach up to three meters (10 feet).

Emergency Management Minister Kiri Allan told reporters that folks had followed the advisory.

“They felt the long or strong earthquakes and that they knew to grab their bag and head into the highlands,” she said. “I can only thank and acknowledge the tireless efforts of the lads and ladies from up and down the coast who knew the way to act, when to act, and what to try to to .”

She warned that the threat could remain throughout much of the afternoon and other people shouldn't return home until authorities gave the all-clear. Allan said evacuations took precedence over coronavirus distancing measures.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System also cautioned the quake could cause tsunami waves of up to three meters (10 feet) in Vanuatu and up to 1 meter (3 feet) in Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia and as distant as Mexico and Peru.

The U.S. Geological Survey said it had been centered near the remote Kermadec Islands at a depth of 19 kilometers (12 miles).

The agency said during a report that the quake occurred at the intersection of the Pacific and Australia tectonic plates and eclipsed the most important quake previously recorded within the region, a magnitude 8.0 in 1976.

It said the interaction between the plates creates one among the foremost seismically active regions within the world, and it's recorded 215 quakes there above magnitude 6.0 over the past century.

Jennifer Eccles, an earthquake expert at the University of Auckland, said the quake was at the highest end of the size for those involving only the Earth's ocean crust.

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

She said most quakes larger than magnitude 8.0 tend to occur when a neighborhood of more robust continental crust is involved.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.4 quake was likely a “foreshock” that contributed to the larger quake but that the primary quake that hit closer to New Zealand was too distant in time and distance to possess directly contributed.

Officials in New Zealand had hours earlier issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas after the primary quake struck off its northeastern coast at about 2:30 a.m. Friday. there have been no immediate reports of great damage or casualties, and therefore the warning was lifted just before the most important quake hit.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the primary quake was centered at a depth of 21 kilometers (13 miles) under the ocean about 174 kilometers (108 miles) northeast of the town of Gisborne.

It was widely felt in New Zealand, and residents within the major cities of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch reported being shaken awake.

In 2011, a magnitude 6.3 quake hit the town of Christchurch, killing 185 people and destroying much of its downtown.