A magnitude 5.9 earthquake shook New Zealand’s lower South Island on Thursday evening, centred about 40 kilometres north of the town of Te Anau, the gateway to the Fiordland tourist region. The tremor struck at 9:14 p.m. local time (0914 GMT) at a depth of 53 kilometres, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) and the United States Geological Survey. New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) initially assessed the quake at magnitude 6.3 and issued a tsunami warning for the west coast from Milford Sound to Puysegur Point, urging residents in coastal areas to move immediately to higher ground.

Within hours, the warning was downgraded to an advisory after seismologists revised the magnitude downward to 5.9 and no tsunami signal was detected in the two hours following the quake. NEMA later cancelled the advisory entirely, stating the threat had passed, though it cautioned that strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges could still affect shorelines. People were advised to stay out of the water, off beaches, and away from harbours and marinas. The UAE embassy in Wellington separately urged its citizens in New Zealand to exercise caution and follow local safety instructions.

More than 20,000 felt reports were submitted to GeoNet, the national hazard monitoring system, and at least seven smaller aftershocks were recorded. Local residents described the shaking as “a bit strong” and “long and loud,” with one telling the Otago Daily Times that walls were “definitely moving.” As of the latest updates, no injuries or significant damage had been reported. New Zealand sits on the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, making it one of the world’s most seismically active countries; the South Island’s largest city, Christchurch, was devastated by a shallow quake in 2011 that killed 185 people.