March 5 2021 was a busy day for New Zealand's emergency management and tsunami response community. It all began at approximately 2:30am on Friday March 5 2021 when a magnitude 7.3 earthquake located some 175km northeast of Gisborne shook people awake across the North Island. The relatively strong and long-lasting shaking felt by residents in Gisborne and along the East Cape alerted many to the possibility of an ensuing tsunami prompting numerous people to spontaneously evacuate coastal areas.
