New Zealand Tsunami
Fresh tsunami warnings were issued after New Zealand was hit by three earthquakes

Thousands of New Zealanders evacuated to higher ground on Friday after a third huge earthquake in less than eight hours triggered tsunami sirens and warnings.

Workers, students and residents on the east coast of the country’s North Island were assisted by civil defence officials as authorities said tsunami waves could reach three metres (10 feet) above tide levels.

There were no reports of damage or casualties from the quakes.

The third and largest had a magnitude of 8.1 and struck the Kermadec Islands, northeast of New Zealand’s North Island in the early hours of Friday.

It came shortly after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in the same region.

Earlier, a large 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck about 900 kilometres (540 miles) away on the east of the North Island. It was felt by more than 60,000 people across the country with many describing the shaking as ‘severe’.

New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the first waves would arrive on New Zealand’s north shores by about 9:45 a.m.

People gather on high ground in Whangarei, New Zealand
People gather on high ground in Whangarei, New Zealand (Picture: AP)
People gather on high ground in Whangarei, New Zealand
Fresh tsunami warnings were issued after the third earthquake in eight hours (Picture: AP)

It said areas under threat were from the Bay of Islands to Whangarei, from Matata to Tolaga Bay including Whakatane and Opotiki, and the Great Barrier Island.

‘We want everyone to take this threat seriously. Move to high ground,’ Whangarei Mayor Sheryl Mai told state broadcaster TVNZ.

Authorities also sent out an alert saying the earthquake may not have been felt in some of these areas, ‘but evacuation should be immediate as a damaging tsunami is possible’.

‘People near the coast in the following areas must move immediately to the nearest high ground, out of all tsunami evacuation zones, or as far inland as possible. DO NOT STAY AT HOME,’ NEMA said on Twitter.

Traffic slowly works up to high ground at Whangarei, New Zealand, as a tsunami warning is issued
Traffic slowly works up to high ground at Whangarei, New Zealand, as a tsunami warning is issued (Picture: AP)

Warnings were also issued for other Pacific islands like Tonga, American Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Hawaii and others.

Australia also 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.

The firstquake struck shortly before 2:30am local time on Friday 5 March (1:30pm GMT, Thursday 4 March), the second hit at around 6:41am local time and the thirdshortly before 08:45am.

Residents have been told to ‘walk, run or cycle if possible to reduce chance of getting stuck in traffic’ and not to return until being given the all-clear by the Civil Defence.

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