WELLINGTON (New Zealand) - THE US Geological Survey says a
magnitude 6.1 earthquake has struck near a group of South Pacific
islands. There are no reports of damage or risk of tsunami.
A statement by the USGS says the quake struck on Sunday 19km
under the Kermadec Islands, a New Zealand group with no permanent
population that lies 1,000km east of the city of Auckland.
New Zealand has been shaken by a series of quakes and
aftershocks since the city of Christchurch was devastated by a
temblor on Feb 22 that killed 181 people.
New Zealand sits above an area where two tectonic plates
collide. The country records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year -
but only about 150 are felt by residents, and fewer than 10 a year
do any damage.
A small US religious group had predicted that Judgment Day would
begin a day earlier, on Saturday, with an earthquake in New
Zealand.
-- AP