A major earthquake struck the Kermadec Islands this morning New Zealand time.
The earthquake which was located 340 km south-east of Raoul Island (350 km east of Macauley Island) at a depth of 33 km, struck at 4:19 a.m. on Tuesday the 30th of September 2008. The quake was not widely felt in New Zealand, but has attracted reports from Raglan to Queenstown.
The US Geological Survey report the quake at magnitude 7.0 at a location 70 km south-south-east of Raoul Island, 210 km north-east of L’Esperance Rock at a depth of 20 km.
An aftershock of magnitude 5.3 struck at 5:11 a.m. This event was located 90 km south-south-east of Raoul Island (195 km north-east of L’Esperance Rock) at a depth of 35 km.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre reported the quake at magnitude 6.9 at a depth of 7 km. In a bulletin issued at 4:34 a.m., the warning centre advised that no destructive widespread tsunami threat had been caused by the quake. However, a wave may have been generated locally.
[Compiled from data supplied by the GeoNet project and its sponsors GNS Science, EQC and FRST; The U.S. Geological Survey and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.]