SERIES OF EARTHQUAKES ROCK THE PACIFIC OCEAN
 

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From the BNO Newsroom.

VANUATU (BNO NEWS) – A massive earthquake rocked the South Pacific Ocean on Thursday morning, according to seismologists, creating a small tsunami. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The initial earthquake, which struck about 232 miles north-northwest of Vanuatu's Santo, had a preliminary magnitude of 8.1, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The United States Geological Survey reported it as a 7.8-magnitude.

The first quake happened at 9.03 a.m. local time (22.03 UTC Wednesday). A spokeswoman for the United States Geological Survey told BNO News that an aftershock, with a preliminary 7.7-magnitude, struck about 15 minutes later. The epicenter of the second tremor was located about 170 miles south of Lata on the Santa Cruz Islands.

Yet another big earthquake struck one hour later, which had a magnitude of 7.1. Several smaller aftershocks were also reported.

Tsunami warnings were immediately issued for Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Kiribati, Kosrae, wallis-Futuna and Howland-Baker. Later, warnings were also issued for the Marshall Islands, Tokelau, the Kermadec Islands, Pohnpei, New Zealand, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Australia, Niue, the Cook Islands, Chuuk and Indonesia. Several hours later, all warnings and watches were cancelled.

The earthquake struck about 15 miles deep, making it an extremely shallow earthquake. Shallow earthquakes often tend to cause more damage, and increase the risk of a tsunami when it strikes at sea.

A spokeswoman for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center confirmed to BNO News that a tsunami had been generated, and said it was reviewing further sea level readings, although it did not appear that a destructive tsunami had hit any coast.

An official at the Fiji Meteorological Service earlier told BNO News that it had urged people to evacuate to higher ground. It initially feared that a tsunami could hit coastal areas around 12.37 p.m. local time. The official said that mobile phone networks sent messages to all phones to warn people in the areas and to begin evacuations.

Residents in the low lying Pacific island state of Tuvalu were ordered to evacuate from areas close to the sea, police officials told the AFP news agency.

Officials also told the AFP news agency that New Caledonia had evacuated schools and sounded tsunami warning sirens in coastal areas following the earthquakes. It also reported evacuations in Vanuatu.

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