Undersea 7.7 quake in South Pacific sets off small tsunami

Small tsunami waves were detected in South Pacific islands after an undersea earthquake early Thursday morning.

Waves of 10 centimetres (4 inches) were measured in Vanuatu and a smaller tsunami was detected in New Caledonia, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Vasiti Soko, the director of Fiji’s National Disaster Management Office, tweeted that the tsunami warning had been cancelled and wrote: “Fiji we are safe.” The tsunami followed an undersea earthquake near the Loyalty Islands, which are part of New Caledonia.

The US Geological Agency said the quake was strong and shallow, at magnitude 7.7 and just 10 kilometres (6 miles) deep.

The Loyalty Islands archipelago is about 1,800 kilometres (1,100 miles) north of New Zealand and 1,600 kilometres (990 miles) east-northeast of Brisbane, Australia.

The islands sit along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic faults around the ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur.

Tsunami warnings elsewhere

A tsunami warning was issued after a massive undersea earthquake struck a region between Australia and Fiji and north of New Zealand, according to authorities.

“Hazardous tsunami waves are forecast for some coasts. Tsunami waves reaching 0.3 to 1 metres above the tide level are possible for some coasts of Fiji, New Zealand and Vanuatu,” the US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a statement following the quake on Wednesday night.

The magnitude of the quake was previously measured at 7.9 and 7.5 by the US Geological Survey (USGS), but was later revised to 7.7.

The epicentre, with a depth of 10 km, was initially determined to be at 23.1 degrees south latitude and 171.5 degrees east longitude.

The initial temblor was followed by at least three other earthquakes in the South Pacific region with magnitudes ranging from 5.7 to 6.1 in a span of over an hour, reports Sky News.

In an official advisory issued on Wednesday night, the New Zealand Civil Defence National Emergency Management Agency said: “We have issued a national advisory: Tsunami activity following the magnitude 7.7 earthquake near southeast of Loyalty Island. We expect New Zealand coastal areas to experience strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore.”