Wellington, September 30: An earthquake of magnitude 7.9 struck off the South Pacific island nation of Samoa on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey reported, at a depth of 85 kilometres (53 miles) beneath the sea.
The quake was strong enough for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre to issue a tsunami warning for a large swathe of the South Pacific including Fiji, New Zealand and Tonga.
In a preliminary earthquake report, received by AFP via email, the USGS put the epicentre 204 kilometres (130 miles) south-southwest of Samoa’s capital and main city Apia.
The tsunami warning was also in effect for American Samoa, Samoa, Niue Island, the Wallis and Futuna Islands, the Tokelau atolls, the Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Kermadec Islands, the Baker and Howland Islands, Jarvis Island, French Polynesia and the Palmyra Islands.
A tsunami watch was issued for Vanuatu, Nauru, the Marshall Islands, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Kosrae Island, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, Pohnpei in Micronesia, the Wake Islands, Pitcairn and the Midway Islands.
–Agencies