Major earthquake recorded in the Kermadec Island Region of New Zealand

A strong 7.2 earthquake was meaured at 19.19 UTC time or at 7.19 at the epic center by USGS in the Raoul Island and Kermadec Island Region of New Zealand. Tourists can only visit the islands with a landing permit from the New Zealand Department of Conservation.

The Kermadec Islands are a subtropical island group in the South Pacific Ocean 800–1,000 km northeast of New Zealand’s North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga.

The Kermadec Islands are the visible surface of a chain of about 80 volcanoes, stretching for 2600 km between Tonga and New Zealand.

Raoul Island is the biggest in the group, which begins at the southernmost L’Esperance. While the other islands and islets are smaller, several of them harbour important bird colonies.

The marine reserve was created in 1990 and is one of New Zealand’s largest marine reserves, covering 745,000 ha. It supports New Zealand’s only truly subtropical marine systems, and historically low levels of fishing have left this environment largely undisturbed and abundant.

The Pacific and Australasian tectonic plates collide along the Kermadec Trench, lifting and buckling the Australasian plate and sinking the Pacific plate. The volcanic chain is formed by the Pacific plate melting as it sinks beneath the Australasian plate.

The location was recorded as 29.897S 177.676W, Depth 30 km

The distance from the epic center is
73 km SSE of Raoul Island, New Zealand
989 km NE of Whangarei, New Zealand
1002 km SSW of Nuku`alofa, Tonga
1020 km NNE of Whakatane, New Zealand
1034 km ( NE of Tauranga, New Zealand

No tsunami warnings or watches were issued except for Raoul Island. There are no report of damages or injuries for this major earthquake happening in a very remote part of the globe.