An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale shook the Kermadec Islands, an archipelago located in northern New Zealand, on Thursday, prompting US authorities to issue a tsunami warning.
The earthquake occurred at 1:56 p.m. (12:56 a.m. in Lisbon), 22 kilometers deep under the seabed of the Pacific Ocean, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which records seismic activity around the world.
The earthquake occurred 980 kilometers from Ohonua, in the Tonga archipelago.
The US National Weather Service has issued a tsunami warning for “coasts up to 300 kilometers from the epicenter of the earthquake” and forecast waves “less than 0.3 meters above tidal level.”
The Kermadec Islands, which lie between New Zealand and Tonga, are uninhabited except for staff at a permanently installed base on Raoul Island, which has a weather and radio station.
New Zealand is located on the so-called “ring of fire” in the Pacific, an area of great seismic and volcanic activity, and the archipelago registers around 14,000 earthquakes a year, most of low to moderate magnitude, with only between 100 and 150 senses. by population.
Source: TSF
