New Zealand: Tsunami waves hit Norfolk Island after powerful quakes. Watch video
- Video footage posted on social media showed surges of water entering a marina in Northland and on the North Island's East Cape region
Small tsunami waves triggered by a series of powerful South Pacific earthquakes hit the east coast of New Zealand's North Island on Friday and authorities said thousands of residents who had evacuated to the higher ground could now return to their homes.
Warning sirens sounded across Noumea as evacuations from coastal areas were ordered in New Zealand, New Caledonia and Vanuatu, authorities said.
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"People must leave beach areas and stop all water activities, and should not pick their children up at schools to avoid creating traffic jams," emergency services spokesman Alexandre Rosignol told public radio.
"Tsunami waves have been observed," the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said, revealing ocean gauges had picked up small waves near the Tonga capital Nuku'alofa measuring about three centimetres (1.3 inches).
Tsunamis become more powerful as they travel across the ocean and the centre has warned some areas including Vanuatu and the French territory of New Caledonia could be hit by waves of up to three metres after three major quakes, the largest at 8.1 magnitude.
'All people who evacuated can now return'
The largest waves have now passed, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said as it downgraded the threat level. "All people who evacuated can now return," the agency said.
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Video footage posted on social media showed surges of water entering a marina in Northland and on the North Island's East Cape region.
Earlier on Friday, workers, students and residents in areas like Northland and Bay of Plenty, on the northern coast near Auckland, were put on alert after the three offshore earthquakes in less than eight hours triggered tsunami sirens and warnings.
An emergency alert was issued for all coastal areas around Auckland, a city of 1.7 million, where people were told to stay away from the water's edge. There were no reports of damage or casualties from the quakes.
The third and strongest quake struck the Kermadec Islands, northeast of New Zealand's North Island, on Friday morning, coming shortly after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in the same region. Earlier, a large 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck about 900 km (540 miles) away on the east of the North Island.
Linda Tatare, a resident of Anaura Bay, on the North Island's east coast, said the small community of about 50 left for higher ground in the morning.
"Everyone, and their dogs, are up in the hills," Tatare told Reuters.
"We are safe. We can all see our properties from here."
Tsunami warnings were also put out for Pacific islands including New Caledonia and Vanuatu, while smaller tsunami waves may be recorded as far away as Antarctica and parts of South America, the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
Scientists said Friday's series of quakes was caused by tectonic movement on the boundary of the Australian and Pacific plates, part of the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire that New Zealand sits on.
A decade ago, a magnitude 6.3 quake killed 185 people in the South Island city of Christchurch.
Australia issued a marine tsunami threat for Norfolk Island, a tiny Australian territory with about 1,750 residents, but said there was no threat to the mainland.
Norfolk Island residents in areas threatened by land inundation or flooding were advised to go to higher ground or inland, the Bureau of Meteorology said, as small tsunami waves impacted the coastline.
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