The advisory applies to the West Coast of the South Island from Milford Sound to Puysegur Point.
The warning follows an earthquake centred 40km north of Te Anau, which struck at 9.14pm on Thursday at a depth of 53km.
Nearly 20,000 people have reported feeling the quake, with the tremor felt across the South Isle
The magnitude-6.0 earthquake centered near Hōnaunau-Nāpōʻopoʻo resulted in more than 540 reports of residential damage. 92 homes were classified as having sustained major damage and another 18 were classified as destroyed, the County says. The event also resulted in extensive damage to water systems in the area. nd, including Otago, Southland and Canterbury.
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck near the town of Te Anau in New Zealand's South Island, shaking buildings and prompting authorities to issue a tsunami warning briefly.
The earthquake's epicentre was about 40 km (25 miles) north of Te Anau, the gateway to the tourist hotspot of Fiordland, according to New Zealand's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The agency initially assessed the quake, which struck at 9.14pm local time (0914 GMT), at magnitude 6.3 before revising it downward to 5.9.
Although the tsunami alert was cancelled, NEMA said it expected coastal areas to experience "strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore".
It said people should move out of the water, off beaches, and stay away from harbours, marinas and rivers.
Resident Maylene Puyat, the duty manager at Te Anau's Fiordland Hotel, told Reuters the earthquake was "a bit strong" and she felt shaking for one minute. "In the hotel, it's shaking, but nothing moved in the hotel," she said.
Another resident told the local outlet Otago Daily Times that the earthquake shaking was "long and loud" and sounded "like a train". "The walls were definitely moving," they said.
There were more than 18,000 "felt reports" to the hazard monitoring system GeoNet.