Fears of a tsunami rocking New Zealand have arisen after a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck off the country's South Island earlier today.
The powerful tremor hit at 2.42pm local time on Tuesday - shortly before 2am in the UK.
Seismic monitors detected the earthquake at a depth of 12km, about 160km northwest of the uninhabited Snares Islands.
"Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.8 - 159 km WSW of Riverton, New Zealand," the United States Geological Survey said overnight.
But back on the mainland, the quake was felt by thousands of people, according to government seismic monitor Geonet - which reported that almost 5,000 people would have felt the tremor.
Seismic monitors detected the earthquake at a depth of 12km, about 160km northwest of the uninhabited Snares Islands
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Local media published reports of furniture falling and buildings swaying near the earthquake zone.
"We had things fall off the shelf. The outdoor wooden table was dancing," one local wrote on Facebook.
New Zealand authorities immediately began assessing the potential tsunami risk for coastal areas.
Then, the country's National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) issued warnings for residents of Southland and Fiordland to stay clear of beaches and marine areas.
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"Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.8 - 159 km WSW of Riverton, New Zealand," the United States Geological Survey said
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"Strong currents and surges can injure and drown people. There is a danger to swimmers, surfers, people fishing, and anyone in or near the water close to shore," the agency said in an update at 4pm local time.
While no official evacuation order was issued, Nema advised people to self-evacuate from coastal areas where the earthquake was felt for longer than a minute or was strong enough to make standing difficult.
The agency warned that in such areas, a tsunami may arrive quickly.
And one soon did - though it was too small to cause any damage.
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Coastal sea-level gauge recorded a 10cm tsunami which lasted for 90 minutes after the earthquake in southwest Fiordland, on the South Island's southwestern tip.
The earthquake struck near the tectonic plate boundary where the Australian plate scrapes under the Pacific plate in an area known as the Puysegur Trench - though the Bureau of Meteorology has advised there is currently no tsunami threat to Australia following the earthquake.
"This area is actually very poorly understood," Seismologist Dr Finn Illsley-Kemp told the NZ Herald.
"There's been far less research done here compared to other regions, leaving many unknowns about the exact tectonics - but it's hosted some of our biggest earthquakes."
