Geonet: 7.2 magnitude quake false report

Geonet reported a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Whakatane, and GeoNet alerts were buzzing off. 

The earthquake struck at 6.55pm, the real earthquake measuring 5.8 sent off alerts to the GeoNet team and New Zealand residents that a magnitude 7.2 struck. 

This caused major problems nationwide and some telephone carriers came to a standstill. 

The real earthquake has been revised to a 5.8, at a depth of 233km. 

The earthquake was located 915km away from Whakatane, not in Whakatane as earlier reported by Geonet.

Geonet have apologised for the problem.