Authorities in New Zealand on Wednesday asked people living along the country's northern coast to move away from the coast due to tsunami risks, after the 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked the South Pacific .
Read also: A magnitude 7.7 earthquake shakes the Loyalty Islands and New Caledonia
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We expect New Zealand's coastal regions to be exposed to unusually strong currents and unpredictable rising waters
,” the emergency management agency said.
"
People at sea or on the coast must return inland, away from beaches, coastlines, ports and estuaries,
" the agency added.
The Australian meteorological agency said the earthquake did generate a tsunami.
"
Tsunami confirmed,
" the Australian Bureau of Meteorology tweeted, adding that it threatened Lord Howe Island, about 550 kilometers east of Australia, in particular.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located about 400 kilometers southeast of the Loyalty Islands archipelago, and about 430 kilometers from Vanuatu, according to the American Geophysical Institute (USGS).
New Caledonia is located in the southwest of the Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,500 km east of Australia.
The region encompassing New Caledonia and neighboring Vanuatu is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the most intense areas of earthquake activity on the planet.
