5.9 earthquake near Kermadecs

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A large undersea earthquake centred off the Kermadec Islands shook the east coast of the North Island shortly before noon today.

The 5.9-magnitude earthquake, at a depth of 418km, occurred 150km west of L'Esperance Rock in the Kermadecs, 735km north-east of Auckland, the US National Geological Survey reported.

The quake took place at 11.47am Monday (NZT) and there are no reports of damage or casualties and no tsunami warning was issued.

In 2006 Upper Hutt conservationist Mark Kearney was killed in an eruption on remote Raoul Island in the Kermadecs, during a short eruption in the Green Lake area which raised the lake by four metres.

At the time, he was monitoring volcanic activity for GNS, who had asked DOC to step up monitoring after a swarm of earthquakes in the area.