Tsunami threat eases as New Zealand assesses earthquake damage

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A major earthquake rocked New Zealand early Monday, shaking buildings across the nation, and a portion of the South Island remained under a tsunami warning at daybreak. Two deaths were reported and residents in the capital, Wellington, were urged to stay home.

The quake, recorded at magnitude 7.5, struck at 12:02 a.m. and was centered near Christchurch on the South Island, seismic monitoring website GeoNet reported. It jolted Wellington, where sirens sounded.

New Zealand is on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a belt of volcanic and quake activity that rings the Pacific Ocean. Christchurch is still recovering from a 2011 quake that killed 185 people and destroyed the central city.

The Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management issued a tsunami warning for all southern coastal areas, but it was scaled back after six hours. Residents along the northeast coast of South Island were told to keep clear of beaches and away from the water.

The quake was followed by numerous aftershocks, including a magnitude 6.1 and 5.6, GeoNet said.

Authorities in Wellington strongly urged residents who work in the city to stay home, the NZHerald.co.nz website said. Rail and bus services were suspended until tracks, bridges and tunnels were checked.

A number of major buildings showed “signs of structural stress,” Wellington Regional Civil Defense Controller Bruce Pepperell told the website.

There were reports of damage to buildings around the country.

A two-meter wave hit Kaikoura, a town of several thousand people on the South Island, Radio New Zealand reported, without giving further details. Kaikoura is about 180 kilometers (110 miles) northeast of Christchurch.

“This was a very big event and we’ve seen several big aftershocks,” John Townend, an associate professor of seismology at Victoria University in Wellington, told Radio New Zealand. “With big earthquakes you trigger aftershocks nearby, and can also trigger other earthquakes within several hundred kilometers or even further afield.”

(c) 2016, Bloomberg · Matthew Brockett

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