Warnings remain in place as tsunami surges reach NZ
Tsunami waves flood an area in Severo-Kurilsk in the Sakhalin region of Russia after the magnitude 8.8 earthquake. Photo: Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences/Handout via REUTERS
By Soumya Bhamidipati of RNZ
Emergency authorities say a tsunami threat to New Zealand from the giant quake off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula is likely to remain in force until at least midday.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in its latest update a short time ago said tsunami activity had already reached parts of New Zealand.
The first currents and surges were unlikely to be the largest and were expected to continue over many hours.
NEMA said the threat must be regarded as real until the tsunami alert is cancelled; however, it did not report any significant developments overnight.
NEMA's director Civil Defence Emergency Management John Price told Morning Report the risk was still very high for people thinking of going near the water today.
"We take these matters extremely seriously ... we want them to stay away."
The last thing NEMA wanted was to see anyone harmed.
Evidence of tsunami activity had been seen in North Cape, Tauranga, Kaikōura, Castle Point, and Christchurch and the southern parts of the country.
"This is still an active threat. It is still a threat to human life."
That was the reason for sending texts to Kiwis to remind them to stay away from coastal areas.
However, there had been a glitch with the alert system which resulted in some people receiving multiple texts, Price said.
There have been two official alerts and NEMA would be trying to work out why some people had received more than that.
Ninety percent of people entering a tsunami wave died, Price said.
"You will see unusually high tidal surges, you'll see unusually high currents and the water level is unpredictable and it's the unpredictability of this that will potentially cause great danger to people."
Authorities remained on alert for any dangerous tsumani activity overnight.
An 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off Russia's remote east coast on Wednesday, triggering tsunami waves on multiple country's shores - including New Zealand, several Pacific nations, the US and Canadian coasts, and parts of South America.
The quake is tied for the sixth-strongest ever recorded, and the strongest since 2011, when a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit northeast Japan, triggering a devastating tsunami.
Civil Defence Northland said the forecast tsunami activity in its region, expected at about 12am-1am, would coincide with high tide.
Further south, Bluff was not expected to see its earliest tsunami waves until at least 4.46 am.
Various online webcams, dotted along the country's coasts and monitored by RNZ overnight, did not appear to reveal any damage - although daybreak could bring this to light.
Boaties were advised not to remain on their vessels. Auckland Emergency Management opened four Civil Defence Centres for people lived aboard and who did not have friends or family to stay with. The centres would remain open until 8am Thursday.
Auckland Emergency Management said two boaties spent the night at its Waikeke Island civil defence centre.
KiwiRail detoured some of its Cook Strait ferries overnight, adding about 40 minutes to three Interislander sailings. An order banning the ferries travelling to Picton from using the Tory Channel was lifted about 6am today.
Further afield, while many countries began to lift their tsunami warnings into the early hours of Thursday, others issued new ones.
As the threat to Japan, the Philippines, Russia, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and Cook Islands eased, French Polynesia warned of waves as high as four metres, Colombia ordered evacuations along its Pacific coast and Chilean authorities issued a red alert for Easter Island.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said New Zealanders in affected areas should follow the advice of local authorities at all times, including any evacuation orders, and let family and friends in New Zealand know that they were safe.