Tsunami alert lifted after quake

A MAGNITUDE 8.0 earthquake struck yesterday near the South Pacific nation of Tonga, prompting tsunami warnings for as far away as Fiji and New Zealand.

The warning was lifted after a tsunami of less than two feet was recorded.

There were no reports of damage from the quake or tsunami. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Honolulu lifted its warning for all areas within several hours.

It said there was no data indicating that the earthquake generated a giant wave.

“Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated,” the centre said. “It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicentre.”

The temblor, classified by the US Geological Survey as a ‘great’ quake, struck about 150 kilometres south of Neiafu, Tonga, and 2,170km north-northeast of Auckland, New Zealand. It occurred 32km beneath the sea floor.

A warning said it was possible a tsunami could strike Fiji within two hours of the quake and then, an hour later, New Zealand.

In New Zealand, Sergeant James Tasmania of Gisborne police said civil defence authorities had been put on high alert, but he added that “none of the [ocean] monitoring buoys have reported anything significant”.