The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said it has cancelled the tsunami warning and/or watch for New Zealand, the Kermadec Islands and Tonga.

A 7.6 magnitude quake struck at 7:03 a.m. on Thursday (1903 GMT on Wednesday) at the epicenter, 211 kilometers east of Raoul Island, part of the Kermadec archipelago, and was 48 km deep, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Tsunami warnings were later issued, with the first surge was expected to arrive just before 9 a.m. local time (2100 GMT), in Auckland, New Zealand, which is located 1,185 km from the epicentre. However, the warnings have been cancelled.

"Advice from GNS Science is that the tsunami does not represent a threat to New Zealand," New Zealand's Ministry of Defence said in its latest update. "However, they expect that there will be unusually strong tidal surges and currents."

The New Zealand agency added, "For the next 24 hours people should exercise caution and discretion before entering the water or going out in small boats in all parts of New Zealand"

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Center has also dropped its tsunami alert.

"Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicenter. For those areas - when no major waves are observed for two hours after the estimated time of arrival or damaging waves have not occurred for at least two hours then local authorities can assume the threat is passed. Danger to boats and coastal structures can continue for several hours due to rapid currents. As local conditions can cause a wide variation in tsunami wave action the all clear determination must be made by local authorities," the Pacific Tsunami Center stated in its final bulletin.

"No tsunami threat exists for other coastal areas in the pacific although some other areas may experience small sea level changes. The tsunami warning is now cancelled for all areas covered by this center."

New Zealand has a long history of earthquake since it sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high seismic activity, and is frequently hit by earthquakes.

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake with an epicentre just 13 km from Christchurch struck last month. Christchurch was hit by a large 7.1 magnitude quake in September last year, followed by a devastating 6.3 magnitude quake on Feb. 22, which killed 181 people.

The largest quake so far in the Ring of Fire for the past two years is the 9.0 earthquake that hit Japan early this year. In March, the undersea megathrust earthquake created a tsunami, killed more than 15,000 in Japan, destroyed billions worth of infrastructure and caused a number of nuclear accidents.