11 Feb 2021

Ahipara local watching surge come in from house

From Morning Report, 8:10 am on 11 February 2021

People are still being asked to stay off the beaches around parts of the North Island this morning after a major earthquake near New Caledonia overnight, which resulted in tsunami warnings for some countries.

The 7.7 magnitude quake at a depth of 25 kilometres struck east of New Caledonia at 2.20am on Thursday.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has issued warnings for hazardous tsunami waves within 1000 kilometres of the epicentre.

The National Emergency Management Agency's Roger Ball told Morning Report people need to stay away from the shoreline as the surges and unusual currents can continue for hours.

A water gauge off Great Barrier Island recorded a 75 centimetre high wave just before 6-o'clock this morning.

At Ahipara, on the southern end of 90 mile beach on Northland's West Coast, a local man says the surge waves are pushing the water about 30 to 40 metres further up the beach than usual.

Paul Hansen, who lives above the beach, says he's been watching the surge come in this morning.

He told Morning Report producer, Michael Cropp, the beach entrances had been blocked off, and he couldn't see anyone along the shoreline.