Earthquake of magnitude 7.2 hits New Zealand, tsunami warning issued

Earthquake of magnitude 7.2 hit New Zealand's Kermadec islands. It struck at a depth of six miles and an alert was issued for the island region shortly afterwards.

Kermandec: A massive earthquake of magnitude 7.2 on Richter scale struck near Kermadec islands northeast of New Zealand on Sunday, the authorities have issued a tsunami warning.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami threat exists in areas within 300 kilometres of the epicentre.

"Hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible within 300 km of the epicentre along the coasts of the Kermadec islands," said Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

The huge tremor struck near New Zealand's Kermadec Islands at about 11.55pm on Saturday (GMT).

It struck at a depth of six miles and an alert was issued for the island region shortly afterwards.

No casualty has been reported yet.

Further details are awaited.