An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck near Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, prompting countries in the region to assess a tsunami threat.
New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency said it was looking to see whether the earthquake had created a tsunami that could affect New Zealand.
“If a tsunami has been generated in this location, it is not likely to arrive in New Zealand for at least two hours,” it said.
The earthquake was measured at a depth of nearly 238km (147.89 miles), the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
It struck at 5.38pm local time on Tuesday in the middle of the sea, 153km (95 miles) west of Neiafu, the second-largest town in Tonga.
The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, however, said there was “no threat because the earthquake is located too deep inside the Earth” based on the available data.
There were no immediate reports of damage.
Tonga’s National Disaster Risk Management Office warned all residents in a post on the office’s Facebook page to move immediately to higher ground or inland and asked them to avoid beaches, shorelines, and low-lying coastal areas until an all-clear was given.
Tonga is an archipelago made up of 171 islands spread over an area of the South Pacific. It has just over 100,000 people, most of whom live on the main island of Tongatapu.
The earthquake that shook the waters was centred around the Vava’u island group which is second-most northern island group of Tonga and has around one main and around 40 smaller islands.
The island nation is about 1,800km (1,100 miles) northeast of New Zealand and situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the arc of seismic faults where much of the world’s earthquake and volcanic activity occurs.
A tsunami set off by a volcanic eruption in 2022 killed three people and homes and other buildings in the archipelago suffered major damage. A massive volcanic eruption, which was the largest in 30 years, caused a massive tsunami wave that hit the island. The eruption was heard as far away as Australia and New Zealand, causing tsunami warnings across the Pacific.
