A 7.3-magnitude earthquake shook the Kermadec Islands, a New Zealand archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, on Monday, without authorities reporting damage or casualties so far.
The United States Geological Survey, which records seismic activity around the world, indicated that the earthquake occurred at 12:41 local time (0041 GMT) and was located 33 kilometers deep.
The closest towns to the epicenter of the tremor are Hicks Bay, located about 910 kilometers from the quake, and the city of Whangarei, 964 kilometers away.
Following the strong tremor, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Service issued a tsunami watch and warned of the possibility of “dangerous tsunami waves” 300 kilometers from the quake’s epicenter, along the coast of the Kermadec Islands.
The Kermadec Islands, which lie between New Zealand and Tonga, are unpopulated, except for the staff at the permanently installed base on Raoul Island, which has a weather and radio station.
New Zealand sits on the fault line between the Pacific and Oceanian tectonic plates and records some 14,000 earthquakes each year, of which between 100 and 150 are powerful enough to be felt.
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