New Zealand on full-scale tsunami alert after Chile quake

WELLINGTON - A tsunami of 0.5 metres hit New Zealand’s Chatham Islands, 700 km southeast of the mainland, Sunday morning as the country was put on a full-scale alert following the Chile earthquake.

The National Crisis Management Centre said the tsunami, moving across the Pacific at 800 km an hour, could produce waves of up to one-metre by the time it reaches New Zealand’s main islands.

People in all coastal areas were warned to stay off beaches and keep out of rivers and estuaries.

Police started evacuating residents from beach areas in the city of Gisborne and parts of small communities on the North Island’s East Cape.

People living in low areas of the Banks Peninsula, near Christchurch, in the South Island, began leaving their homes for higher ground in the wake of predictions of waves up to three metres reaching the area later in the morning, Radio New Zealand reported.

More than 140 people died in the magnitude-8.8 earthquake, which triggered a tsunami alert for the Pacific basin.