A statement by the USGS says the quake struck Sunday 12 miles under the Kermadec Islands, a New Zealand group with no permanent population that lies 620 miles  east of the city of Auckland.

New Zealand has been shaken by a series of quakes and aftershocks since the city of Christchurch was devastated by a temblor on Feb. 22 that killed 181 people.

New Zealand sits above an area where two tectonic plates collide. The country records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year — but only about 150 are felt by residents, and fewer than 10 a year do any damage.

A small U.S. religious group had predicted that Judgement Day would begin a day earlier, on Saturday, with an earthquake in New Zealand.