Wave of aftershocks rocks Tonga after Pacific earthquake

A SERIES of aftershocks measuring up to magnitude 6.0 rocked the South Pacific island nation of Tonga into Friday morning, a day after an even more powerful quake triggered a tsunami warning.

No tsunami warning was issued Friday, and there was no sign of damage from the aftershocks.

The US Geological Survey said at least six aftershocks occurred near Tonga, while others were recorded near Fiji and Vanuatu. The strongest aftershock occurred at 12.25am local time.

It was located 85 miles east-northeast of Nuku’alofa and 1,310 miles northeast of Auckland.

On Thursday, a magnitude-7.9 temblor struck about 95 miles south of Neiafu, Tonga, and 1,340 miles north-northeast of Auckland. A tsunami warning was issued for as far away as Fiji and New Zealand, but it was lifted within two hours after ocean buoys recorded a tsunami of less than 2 feet.

No injuries or damage were reported.

But word of the imminent danger never reached the tiny country closest to the epicenter.

Nearly 18 months after an earthquake-driven tsunami in the Indian Ocean left at least 216,000 people dead or missing, sparking international calls for a better warning system, Pacific islanders received little or no notice of Thursday’s threat.

A warning issued by the Honolulu-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre first went out 16 minutes after the 4.26am earthquake.

But Tonga did not receive the alert because of a power failure there, said the centre’s acting director, Gerard Fryer.

Mali’u Takai, deputy director of Tonga’s National Disaster Office, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that no warning was received.