The tsunami advisory has been lifted for almost every part of the country, with only the Chatham Islands under the National Emergency Management Agency’s warning.

However, the agency warns that strong and unusual currents will persist for 20 to 48 hours.

It also said beach and marine tsunami conditions were “observed overnight” across the east coast as the country continues to experience rebounding tsunami activity from South America.

Nema said those have now subsided.

Yesterday, New Zealand’s entire coastline was put on notice after the sixth most severe quake in history struck off the coast of Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka coast on Wednesday.

The magnitude 8.8 earthquake triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific.

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell said he had been on the phone to National Emergency Management (Nema) this morning, who confirmed a new announcement would be coming before 8.30am.

He told Herald NOW’s Ryan Bridge that although he had been “extremely proud” of the response, he would also be looking for improvements, considering the errors in the alerts in the early hours of Thursday morning.

“Well, we review everything. We’re looking for constant improvement all the time in our emergency management, because we’re a country that has to be able to prove that we can identify our risk and we know how to deal with it.”

National Emergency Management (Nema) said the areas under the National Advisory that are experiencing strong and unusual currents have been reduced. 

• 'Precautionary approach': Civil Defence Director defends use of emergency alert system
• "Err on the side of caution": Civil Defence Minister defends use of emergency alerts
• Emergency alerts: When and why do they get sent out?
• 'Strong and unusual currents' forecast to continue overnight

The remainder of the West Coast of the South Island and Cook Strait that remain under a beach and marine tsunami threat were assessed as only just reaching that threshold, Nema said. 

A further update will be provided at 8am today. 

So far, New Zealand has remained relatively unscathed, with the largest tsunami wave reaching 51cm high on the Chatham Islands. 

The first signs of the arrival of the tsunami were detected about 1am yesterday on the North Cape tide gauge, GeoNet said. 

Kiwis then awoke at 6.30am to the second updated tsunami warning of “strong currents and surges” that advised people to “stay away from water”. 

Signs at Tutukākā Marina on Thursday morning following alerts from Civil Defence. Photo / Brodie Stone 

People on boats, live-aboards and at marinas were advised to leave their boats/vessels and move on to shore. 

The tsunami also posed a risk to swimmers, surfers, people fishing, and anyone in or near the water close to the shore. 

In spite of the raised concern by authorities, a few dozen people were seen on the sand, easing into their morning routines at a popular Auckland beach. 

New Zealand wakes to emergency alert ‘glitch’ 

Civil Defence began investigating a system “glitch” after multiple people told the Herald or complained on social media of being woken by alerts between 1.50am and 3am yesterday. 

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell told the media that the two official emergency alerts were justified. 

“I can tell you right now that if we hadn’t done that and there’d been half a dozen people swept off the beach this morning when they were walking their dogs at 6:30 and had been drowned, then I’d be standing here being asked why we didn’t use our national alert system.” 

Mitchell said: “We don’t have the luxury of playing Russian roulette with people’s lives.” 

Speaking to Herald NOW’s Ryan Bridge on Thursday morning, Government minister Shane Jones said he had switched off his phone and gone to bed early after enjoying a few wines and missed the alert completely. 

Impacts on the Pacific 

On Wednesday, the tsunami wave swept away buildings on the coastal area of Severo-Kurilsk, the main settlement on Russia’s Kuril Islands in the Pacific, and authorities declared a state of emergency. 

This image shows the epicentre of an 8.8 earthquake that hit off Russia's far east. Image / US Geological Survey 

In Japan, tsunami waves reached Hokkaido, prompting evacuations of more than two million people, train suspensions, and heightened concern near the Fukushima nuclear plant. 

Tsunami warnings were issued across the Pacific, with waves of over 3m possible in parts of Russia, Japan, Ecuador, and the northwestern Hawaiian islands. 

Authorities in the Philippines and California also issued alerts, warning people to stay away from the coast. 

The Klyuchevskoy volcano on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia’s far east started erupting after Wednesday’s powerful earthquake in the Pacific, the Russian state news agency RIA reported.