M 8.1 Kermadec Islands Fri, Mar 5 2021
At 8:28 a.m., on Friday 5 March 2021 NZDT, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck the Kermadec Islands, 1025 km north-east of Whangarei.
This event was preceded by the M7.2 East Cape earthquake at 2:27 a.m. and then a M7.3 event at 6:41 a.m. also in the Kermadecs.
Tsunami
Our instruments recorded the tsunami from the earlier M7.2 East Cape earthquake. This was closely followed by tsunamis generated by the M7.3 and M8.1 Kermadec earthquakes.
These waves overlapped to produce a tsunami between 35 and 40 cm in amplitude at the Great Barrier Island tsunami gauge and recorded at many other gauges around New Zealand.
Surges arriving in Tokomaru Bay on the East Cape
Tsunami signal from gauges across New Zealand
A selection of tsunami gauges across New Zealand