Tsunami risk passes in the South Pacific after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake off New Caledonia

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(Reuters) – A tsunami threat has passed across the South Pacific and national warnings have been lowered in the wake of a 7.7-magnitude earthquake on Friday southeast of the Loyalty Islands in the French territory of New Caledonia.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said the threat of a tsunami had largely ended on Friday afternoon.

It had earlier warned of the possibility of waves rising to one meter above tide level across 26 locations in the South Pacific Ocean.

Vanuatu reversed its warning to seek higher areas and said a destructive tsunami was no longer expected, according to the Vanuatu Department of Meteorology and Geographical Hazards website.

Following the earthquake, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology issued a tsunami threat for Lord Howe Island off its east coast and warned approximately 450 people to leave the water’s edge because of the strong waves and currents.

This was later downgraded to a Naval Warning.

“We haven’t moved to higher ground and probably won’t go there,” said Damien Ball of Thompson’s General Store in Lord Howe Islands. “We’ve been through this many times before and nothing ever happened.”

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake occurred at a depth of about 38 kilometers.

Reporting from Marinemay Day in Bengaluru

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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