Tsunami anniv: Alarm in Pacific island

“Sea level readings confirm that a tsunami was generated,” the Centre said in its bulletin. “This tsunami may have been destructive along coastlines of the region near the earthquake epicentre,” it said,but cancelled the warning when no destructive wave hit.

The quake struck at 12:16 am Sunday,and the initial tsunami warning covered Vanuatu,Fiji and the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia. There were no casualties.

Jackie Philip,a member of staff at the Melanesian Port Vila Hotel in the Vanuatu capital,said the hotel was busy with late-night Christmas revellers when the quake struck.

“Some of us,we ran outside and stood and watched the sea for a few minutes but nothing happened. There is no damage and no injuries,” he said,adding that no tsunami warning had been given on local radio.

The US Geological Survey said the quake was just 12.3 km deep,and its epicentre was 145 km west of Isangel,on the island of Tanna — home to an active volcano — in the Vanuatu archipelago. The USGS revised its initial readings for the magnitude and distances involved,after first recording the quake at 7.6.

At least a dozen aftershocks of magnitude 5.0 or greater hit the area after the main tremor,according to USGS,including a powerful 6.2-magnitude shock. Vanuatu,which lies between Fiji and Australia and north of New Zealand,is part of the “Pacific Ring of Fire” — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching from Chile through Alaska to the South Pacific.