SYDNEY: A powerful magnitude 7 undersea earthquake struck east of New Caledonia’s Loyalty Islands in the South Pacific on Monday, sending small tsunamis towards New Caledonia and neighbouring Vanuatu, where authorities ordered evacuations.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Hawaii issued a tsunami warning for coastlines within 300 km of the epicentre but later said the danger had largely passed. Monday’s quake initially reported as magnitude 7.3, struck at a shallow depth of 10 km about 82 km east of New Caledonia. It was the second major tremor in the same area in just over 12 hours and the third in the past month.
Small tsunamis were detected and waves may have reached up to one metre (three feet) above the high tide level in parts of New Caledonia and smaller in Vanuatu, the PTWC said. “Minor sea level fluctuations…may continue over the next few hours,” a statement from the agency said. Vanuatu’s National Disaster Management Office advised people in southern provinces to evacuate coastal areas for higher ground.
New Caledonia’s civil security agency made no plans to evacuate coastal places immediately. Authorities in Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii said there were no tsunami threats to the coastlines of those countries.
