Magnitude 6.6 quake hits off NZ

• April 18, 2011 11:56PM
• A STRONG 6.6-magnitude earthquake has struck off the northeast coast of New Zealand, the US Geological Survey says. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a local tsunami warning but said there was no threat of a widespread destructive tsunami.
  
  
  The quake struck at 11.02 (AEST) around 550 kilometres east of Auckland, USGS said, with an epicentre 90 kilometres below the surface.
  USGS had earlier placed the magnitude at 6.4.
  New Zealand's second largest city Christchurch was devastated by a 6.3-magnitude quake in February, which claimed 181 lives and followed a more powerful but less destructive 7.1 quake last September.
  Source: Herald