NZ tsunami warning cancelled
May 4, 2006New Zealand has been removed from the list of countries under threat of a tsumami after an earthquake measuring 8.1 hit the Tonga islands on Thursday.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) Web site had earlier issued a tsunami warning for the Pacific Rim including Fiji and New Zealand.
A tsunami warning was initially issued for Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand but that has since been amended.
It’s still not known if a tsunami has been generated, but warnings are still in place for Tonga, Niue, American Samoa, Samoa, Wallis Futuna and Fiji.
There were initial fears that any tsunami created by the quake would strike Gisborne after 6am.
Gisborne civil defense authorities were making preparations for a possible tsunami strike.
The earthquake was at 2:26am (NZ time), said the Web site monitored in London.
It was not immediately clear what damage it caused but a report on Sky Television said it was felt in several islands.
A resident of Tonga told Sky he felt tremors lasting over 30 seconds.
The earthquake struck 95 miles (155 km) south of Tonga’s Neiafu island and 1340 miles (2145 km) north east of Auckland USGS said.
An earthquake in December 2004 off Indonesia caused a tsunami across the Indian Ocean that killed more than 200,000 people in several countries.
Pretty tense for a while this morning especially as if there was one it was predicted to hit here around 6.20am (it is currently 6.23am and we are on the coast :eek: )