Three earthquakes, including one of the strongest ever to hit the region, struck off the coast of New Zealand on Friday, triggering tsunami warnings that have now been stood down. Thousands were evacuated from some coastal areas of the North Island after the third, 8.1-magnitude quake struck. There were reports of traffic gridlock as people tried to reach higher ground. The national tsunami warning was lifted at 15:43 (02:43 GMT), some 13 hours after the first quake. Some wave surges hit parts of the coast but, by Friday afternoon, authorities said the largest waves had passed. Residents were told they could return home but were warned to stay off beaches. The South Pacific archipelagos of New Caledonia and Vanuatu have been warned to prepare for dangerous waves. Their coasts could see wave surges as high as 3m (10ft), while parts of South America - including Peru, Ecuador and Chile - were warned they could see 1m waves reaching their coasts. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said "tsunami waves have been observed", but as yet no damage had been reported.