MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The earthquake measured at 7.9 on the Richter scale struck New Zealand's South Island, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) said on Sunday.
situation has changed — tsunami is possible. People near the coast in the south island should move to high ground or inlande #eqnz pic.twitter.com/1x2tSTubGO
— MCDEM (@NZcivildefence) 13 ноября 2016 г.
The 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit the island at 11:02 GMT, EMSC specified.
Debris on Waring Taylor St #eqnz #wellington pic.twitter.com/B0z9dTxFmi
— Newshub Politics (@NewshubPolitics) 13 ноября 2016 г.
The epicenter of the earthquake was less than 120 miles from the city of Christchurch that was heavily damaged and saw at least 185 deaths in the earthquakes of 2010-2012.
BREAKING: A tsunami warning for all southern coastal areas of NZ has been issued by the the Ministry of Civil Defence. #eqnz
— RNZ (@radionz) 13 ноября 2016 г.
There have been damages to residential buildings, but so far no reports of casualties, according to some local media outlets.
New Zealand's Civil Defense and Emergency Management Ministry (MCDEM) issued a warning for a tsunami for the eastern coast of both North and South Islands.
"The tsunami threat is for the east coast of all New Zealand (including Christchurch, Wellington and the Chatham islands," MCDEM twitted.
The instructions for behavior during quakes and tsunami and advised everyone on the eastern coast to "move to high ground," the ministry added.
