New Zealand could be potentially hit by a massive magnitude 9.0 earthquake followed by a “towering” tsunami, scientists warn. According to the researchers, a 2016 quake that hit the area reawakened a hazardous fault that was believed to be dormant.
The Hikurangi subduction zone – a deep trench in the Earth’s crust running along the eastern shore of New Zealand’s North Island – is now active and could trigger magnitude 8.5 earthquakes, which would be far more devastating that the one that hit the islands in 2016, a group of scientists from the GNS research institute warn. The earthquakes are also likely to be followed by tsunamis that could reach New Zealand’s coast within mere minutes, the geologists add.

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