3 powerful earthquakes hit off New Zealand coast, topped by magnitude 8.1; tsunami threat cancelled for Hawaii
Several powerful earthquakes hit near the coast of New Zealand on Thursday night and Friday morning, prompting tsunami warnings for New Zealand and tsunami watches for Hawaii. The most powerful was an 8.1 quake that hit some 620 miles northeast of New Zealand on Friday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Two earlier quakes registered magnitude 7.4 and…