Magnitude 6.1 quake strikes off New Zealand’s Kermadec Islands

WELLINGTON—A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck off New Zealand’s Kermadec Islands early Tuesday, the US Geological Survey reported.

The quake hit at 12:19 am (1219 GMT Monday) at a depth of 34 km (21 miles), about 161 km south of Raoul Island in the Kermadecs.

The largely uninhabited islands are northeast of New Zealand’s North Island.

A magnitude 6.0 quake struck off North Island Saturday.

A shallow 6.3-magnitude quake devastated the New Zealand city of Christchurch in the South Island in February last year, leaving 185 people dead.

The country sits on the so-called “Ring of Fire”, the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, and experiences up to 15,000 tremors a year.