Pacific tsunami warning lifted

Liam Fox, Papua New Guinea

Last Updated: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 16:27:00 +1100

A widescale Pacific tsunami warning triggered by a powerful quake between Solomon Islands and Vanuatu has been lifted, but the the warning prompted evacuations in a number of island countries.

A journalist at the Vanuatu Independent newspaper, Hilaire Bule, says schools on the island of Santo, closest to the quake, were closed and people moved into the hills.

In Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila, businesses were closed and people fled from the marketplace.

The local authorities in New Caledonia were evacuating people from the island's eastern shore, and from the nearby Loyalty Islands, to higher ground.

Residents of Tuvalu were also ordered to evacuate from areas close to the sea.

In Papua New Guinea officials went on radio to alert people to the tsunami warning and tell them to stay away from coastal areas.

Powerful quake

The tsunami warning was issued following a powerful earthquake between Vanuatu and Solomon Islands.

The seven-point-eight magnitude quake triggered an expanding tsunami alert for more than 20 nations and territories across the South Pacific.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre says sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated.

It says the first signs were registered at what it describes as Vanuatu's closest point of measurement, but the waves were small.

The possibility of larger waves affecting beaches or river mouths elsewhere in the region was quickly ruled out.

The epicentre of the quake was 295 kilometres from Luganville in Vanuatu, and 260 kilometres south of the Santa Cruz islands in Solomon Islands.

The tsunami warning was issued for Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Fiji, Kiribati, Kosrae, Wallis and Futuna and Howland Baker.

Marshall Islands, Tokelau, Kermadec Islands, Pohnpei, New Zealand, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Australia, Niue, Cook Islands, Chuuk, Indonesia, Wake Island, Jarvis Island, Palmyra Island, Guam, Northern Marianas and Belau were all put on tsunami watch.

Philippines quake

A powerful earthquake has hit in the Celebes Sea area between the southern Philippines and Indonesia, but no tsunami warning was issued.

The US Geological Survey says the six point seven magnitude quake occurred at a depth of almost 600 kilometres, more than 280 kilometres south of the Sulu archipelago.

There have been no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Language News