WELLINGTON: A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck near the Pacific nation of Tonga today, the United States Geological Survey said, but there was no threat of a tsunami.
The quake struck at 9.05am local time from a depth of about 10km according to the USGS, and was centred in an ocean area about 321km northeast of Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofa.
There were no immediate reports of damage in Tonga and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said “there is no tsunami threat from this earthquake”.
Earthquakes are common in Tonga, a low-lying archipelago home to around 100,000 people that straddles the seismic Ring of Fire.
The Ring of Fire is an arc of intense tectonic activity that stretches through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.