A powerful undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 hit south of New Zealand on Sunday, triggering a tsunami alert in Australia.

There was no report of any damage.

Officials said the quake hit near the Auckland Islands at 6:23 pm (0523 GMT) and was centred 350 km southwest of New Zealand and 1,400 km southeast of the southern Australian state of Tasmania.

The Auckland Islands are uninhabited and lie about 500 km south of the New Zealand South Island city of Invercargill.