Tsunami warning follows earthquake in New Zealand

A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake rocked New Zealand late yesterday, the US Geological Survey said

Debris from buildings are seen on a sidewalk past a cordon line in Wellington early on Sunday following an earthquake. Pic/AFP

Wellington: A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake rocked New Zealand late yesterday, the US Geological Survey said.

The shallow tremor hit just after 11 pm local time, some 90 kms from the South Island city of Christchurch, according to the agency. Following the tremors, at midnight, New Zealand issued a tsunami warning for southern coastal areas today. “A tsunami is possible,” the national civil defence organisation, which is in charge of New Zealand’s emergency management, said.

“The first wave activity may not be the most significant,” it said, adding tsumanmi activity would continue for several hours.

The New Zealand government's GeoNet website said the quake was “felt widely” throughout the country and warned citizens to watch out for aftershocks.

Tamsin Edensor, a mother of two in Christchurch, said the shaking lasted a “long” time. “We were asleep and woken to the house shaking, it kept going and going and felt like it was going to build up,” she added.

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