New Zealand has issued an official tsunami warning following an earthquake off Papua New Guinea initially measured with a magnitude of 8.0 by the US Geological Survey.

"We're continuing to assess the situation... at this stage we are advising New Zealanders to stay off the beaches, stay out of the water, not to go sightseeing and to listen to the radio and TV," a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management said.

"At this stage the warning's been issued from the whole of NZ," she said.

Tsunami waves were possible in the next three hours along some coasts of not only Papua New Guinea but also Indonesia, the Solomon Islands, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Nauru, Kosrae and Vanuatu.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.