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Undersea quakes jolt Fiji
13/12/2005 10:06 - (SA)
Suva - Two powerful undersea earthquakes struck within seconds near Fiji on Tuesday, geologists said, and officials issued a tsunami alert for the local area. No damage or injuries were immediately reported.
The first quake, with a magnitude of 6.3, occurred at 15:16 about 255km northeast of Vanua Levu, the main tourist spot in Fiji's chain of islands, at a depth of 29km, The United States Geological survey reported.
Seconds later, a magnitude 6.8 aftershock struck nearby, about 760km west of Apia, the capital of neighbouring Samoa, the survey said. The second quake was much deeper, at 166km beneath the ocean floor.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a bulletin that said there was no Pacific-wide threat of a destructive tsunami, but that quakes of the size measured on Tuesday could cause damaging local tsunamis.
- AP
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