New York police were investigating reports of gunshots fired inside a terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Sunday evening but there was no confirmation shots were fired and no reports of injuries, local media and authorities said.

An evacuation of JFK's Terminal 8 was under way after the reports of gunfire in the departures area, CNN reported on its website, quoting a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.

The evacuation was a precaution, Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo told CNN, as there were no injuries, arrests or confirmation of shots fired.

Sherwin Bryce-Pease, a correspondent with South African Broadcasting Corp based in New York, was on a Norwegian Airlines flight from Paris that landed at JFK shortly before 10 p.m. EDT.

"They told us nothing from the flight deck. Only that the earliest the gate will be available will be in an hour 15 minutes from when we landed, an announcement greeted by huge sighs on our Norwegian Airlines flight from Paris," he said.

Video and photos posted on social media showed hundreds of people streaming out of Terminal 8.