A very large 8.1 magnitude earthquake struck north-northeast off the island of New Zealand Thursday, March 4th, at 11:28 local time.
The quake struck 6 miles deep off the small island chain of the Kermadec Islands and was preceded by the likely foreshock of a 7.3 thrust earthquake at 5:27am local time northeast of Gisborne, New Zealand, as well as a 7.4 magnitude quake at 9:41am on Kermadec Island .
The large temblor initiated Tsunami Warnings across the south Pacific, lower central America, South America, and as far north as the Hawaiian Islands. No local Oregon or California Tsunami warnings have been issued.
