New Zealand: Tsunami alert issued after earthquake of magnitude 7.1 strikes Kermadec Islands

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.1 struck the Kermadec Islands, located to the North of New Zealand on March 16, trigging a tsunami alert for nearby, uninhabited islands.

The US Geological Survey estimated that the earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers. The US Tsunami Warning System promptly issued a tsunami warning for nearby, uninhabited islands within a 300-kilometer radius.
Following the earthquake, the National Emergency Management Agency stated that New Zealand did not face a tsunami threat.

New Zealand is susceptible to earthquakes as two of its most important tectonic plates - the Pacific Plate and the Australian Plate are close to the boundary. It is also near the edge of the Ring of Fire, a seismically active area. New Zealand experiences thousands of earthquakes each year.

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