Hawke's Bay residents who evacuated following Sunday morning's tsunami warning have now returned home.
Around 200 residents from the Hawke's Bay settlement of Haumoana near Hastings left their homes before 9.00am to take shelter at a local school, after a tsunami was triggered by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile .
However, local authorities are still advising people to keep away from beaches and the lower reaches of rivers.
Hastings District Council says tsunami surges are not likely to increase from the mostly 30-40cm rise in sea levels already seen on the east coast of New Zealand. However, the council has warned that surges may continue for the next 12 hours.
Banks Peninsula residents in low lying areas had been on standby to evacuate since the early morning. Some made the move, with residents in Port Levy leaving their homes for higher ground at around 7.00am.
Banks Peninsula has historically been hit hard during tsunamis that have come from South America - in 1868, 1877 and 1960.
The sea floor around the Canterbury coastline works to direct surges at Banks Peninsula. The area is made up of a series of inlets and harbours that are long and shallow and work to funnel any water to low lying areas.
Residents of the northern coastal town of Hicks Bay were evacuated, with the Fire Service asking locals to go to higher ground.
The Red Cross also helped local authorities set up a welfare centre in Blenheim for residents evacuated from the settlement of Rarangi Beach.
Around 20 residents were evacuated to Stadium 2000 in central Blenheim as local authorities believed the beach area to be at particular risk.
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