7.4 magnitude earthquake: People told to stay out of the water due to possible 'strong currents'

A 7.4 magnitude earthquake was widely felt along the East Coast. Image / GeoNet

People living on the east coast are being told to stay out of the water after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck early this morning.

There is no tsunami threat in the region, but the Civil Defence in Waikato has put out the warning still.

"Please remember that although there was no tsunami threat in the wee hours, the earthquake south of the Kermadec Islands this morning still could cause strong currents," the notification read.

"So stay out of the water on the East Coast this morning."

Those worried that the quake had triggered a tsunami were officially told there was no threat - about 50 minutes after the quake struck.

A tsunami alert was never issued by the National Emergency Management Agency when the quake hit at 12.50am off the east coast of New Zealand.

Please remember that although there was no tsunami threat in the wee hours, the earthquake south of the Kermadec Islands this morning still could cause strong currents so stay out of the water on the east coast this morning.

— Waikato CivilDefence (@CivilDefenceWKT) June 18, 2020

It would be 47 minutes later when those living on that side of the country would know for sure that they were safe from a tsunami.

A spokesman for NEMA told the Herald this morning that a notification was issued on its social media sites, including Twitter, that an assessment was being made to figure out whether or not a tsunami had been triggered.

That notification appeared on the NEMA Twitter page at 1.07am. Another post saying "there is no tsunami threat" appeared at 1.37am.

Asked why it took so long for that to be established, the spokesman said it took time for scientists to analyse the situation to establish if a tsunami was coming or not.

That is why the official advice has always been if an earthquake was "long or strong - get gone", he said.

'It would have been too late'

Some people thought that was too long a wait to know whether or not they needed to evacuate or get to higher ground immediately.

"If there was a tsunami, it would have been too late," one person said on Twitter.

"The wave travels 600 to 700km per hour - not impressed."

There is no tsunami threat to New Zealand following the M7.4 SOUTH OF THE KERMADEC ISLANDS earthquake. Based on current information, the initial assessment is that the earthquake is unlikely to have caused a tsunami that will pose a threat to New Zealand.

— National Emergency Management Agency (@NZcivildefence) June 18, 2020

Another man felt confirmation of a tsunami threat, or no threat, should be known "within seconds" particularly to those who would potentially be affected the most.

In this case, the quake was felt by almost 9000 people in areas including the Bay of Plenty, Hastings, Gisborne, Napier and Wellington.

Another poster commented: "Totally agree. I'm not on the coast, but that's way too slow."

One man joked: "Our borders are tight. No need to panic."