Hong Kong
CNN
—
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the South Pacific on Friday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, triggering a tsunami warning for nearby nations including Vanuatu, Fiji and Kiribati.
The US National Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for coasts within 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of the epicenter, which was located between Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia.
The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted that there were currently no threat of a tsunami for Hawaii.
Tsunami waves reaching up to 1 meter are possible along some Vanuatu coasts, according to the US National Tsunami Warning Center, downgrading an earlier estimate that said waves could be 3 meters high.
Smaller waves below 0.3 meters could be expected in Fiji, Kiribati and New Zealand’s remote Kermadec Islands, the warning center added.
The earthquake had a depth of 38 kilometers (23 miles), the USGS said.
New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency tweeted that it is assessing whether the earthquake “poses any tsunami threat to New Zealand.”
The quake was previously reported to have a magnitude of 7.7, but has since been revised upwards.
The South Pacific is one of the most seismically active regions in the world due to high rates of convergence of the tectonic plates of Australia and the Pacific Ocean, which are constantly pushing against each other, according to the USGS.
