WELLINGTON: An earthquake of 7.1 magnitude struck the Kermadec Islands region in New Zealand on Thursday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The quake estimated at a depth of 10 km rocked the Kermadec Islands region which lies north of the country in the early hours of Thursday.
A Tsunami warning was issued by the US Tsunami Warning System which was later cleared by the New Zealand govt. There is no tsunami threat to Australia, the country’s Bureau of Meteorology said in a tweet.
The Kermadec Islands lie northeast of the New Zealand capital and measure about 13 square miles. The volcanic island is frequently shaken by tremors. New Zealand is prone to earthquakes as it is located on the boundary of two of the world’s major tectonic plates- the Pacific Plate and the Australian Plate.
The New Zealand earthquake comes just a day after an earthquake of magnitude 4.7 on the Richter scale struck 263 km south-south-east of Hotan, China on Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported. Hotan is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in Western China.