New Delhi: A massive earthquake of magnitude 6.1 on the Richter Scale struck northwest of Wellington, New Zealand, on Wednesday. According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the earthquake was reported at 7.38 pm around 78 km northwest of Lower Hutt, near Wellington at a depth of 48km.
The earthquake's epicentre was 50 km from the town of Paraparaumu, it said.
Within 15 minutes, over 31000 people reported on GeoNet that they had felt the earthquake.
The National Emergency Management Agency has advised there is no tsunami threat, the Wellington Region Emergency Management Office shared on Facebook.
According to the report, a short time later a magnitude 4.0 earthquake hit 45km southwest of Taumarunui and at a depth of 78km.
There were no reports of any loss of life or damage to property due to the earthquake.
This comes days after a powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on the Richter scale struck Turkey and neighboring Syria. The death toll due to the earthquake has so far crossed the 40,000 mark.
Cyclone Gabrielle
Meanwhile, Cyclone Gabrielle caused widespread flooding, landslides, and huge ocean swells as it left a trail of destruction in New Zealand. The cyclone has forced people to evacuate and some people are left stranded on rooftops.
According to Reuters, authorities have managed to evacuate beach settlements and are asking people to leave their homes as rivers continue to swell. Roads are closed, mobile phone services are down and some towns are cut off.
Earlier on Monday, Reuters reported that many schools and local government facilities across Auckland and the upper North Island were closed and people were requested to avoid travel if possible.
PM Hipkins said it was too early to say how many people had been displaced or injured. No deaths have been reported so far.