Quake off New Caledonia triggers small tsunami waves, no damage reported

SYDNEY: A powerful undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 struck yesterday near New Caledonia in the South Pacific, creating small tsunami waves, but there were no reports of damage, regional officials said.

The quake hit at a shallow depth of 27km about 372km east of Noumea, the capital, the US Geological Survey said, estimating an initial magnitude of 7.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre ( PTWC) said the tsunami threat had largely passed, although coming hours might see some movements in sea levels.

The biggest waves, just over 0.3m high, hit the main island of New Caledonia without consequence, Olivier Ciry, the civil defence spokesman of the French Pacific territory, said by telephone from Noumea.

“We felt it and they felt it more strongly on the Loyalty Islands,” he said.

“There was some movement of the sea but no damage to buildings, no injuries to people and it’s over now.”

Gauges at Lenakel, a town in Vanuatu, about 300km from the epicentre, logged waves 27cm high, the PTWC said.

It had warned against the risk of waves between 30cm and 1 metre higher than tide levels striking islands around the Pacific and as far away as Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. But no waves of that size were recorded. — Reuters