At 13:27 on 4th March 2021 a magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurred off the East coast of the New Zealand’s Northern Island (see map below). The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) immediately issued a warning for the possibility of hazardous Tsunami waves within 300 km of the earthquake epicenter along the New Zealand coast. Tsunami waves of 0.28 m were then observed on the Northeastern Cape and waves of 0.3 to 3 m have been forecast.
The event was recorded by seismic stations worldwide. The stations in the Irish Nation Seismic Network (INSN), recorded it approximately 20 minutes after it occurred (see figure below).
New Zealand is on the Eastern margin of the Australian plate and the region is prone to large events such as this (there have been 15 earthquakes with magnitude greater than 7.5 since 1900). The convergence of the Australia and Pacific plates make it one of the most seismically active areas in the world.
For more information see the following:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000dffl/executive
https://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/2021p169083
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=954885
