Vanuatu earthquake Tsunami warning after 68 magnitude shake strikes island

A tsunami warning has been issued after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the islands of Vanuatu.

The major quake hit near the coast of Port-Orly, a village on the island of Espiritu Santo in the Sanma Province, part of the cluster of roughly 80 islands in the South Pacific Ocean.

According to to Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, the quake occurred at 6.10pm on Wednesday local time.

US warning systems then alerted to the threat of a tsunami.

The quake was at a depth of 91 km (56 miles) and was about 19 km north-west of Port-Olry, according to the U.S. Geological
Survey.

The USGS had initially put the magnitude at 7.1 and the depth at 83.3 km.

Have you been affected by this incident? Let us know at webnews@mirror.co.uk

The major quake hit near the coast of Port-Orly ( Twitter)

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that hazardous waves were possible for coasts located within 300 km of the epicentre.

However, the Philippines and Fiji are among the countries to have ruled out any danger.

A tsunami is a series of waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, often caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions.

It comes after over 300 people died and hundreds were injured or declared missing after a 7.2-magnitude quake struck southwestern Haiti on Saturday.

It was followed by a series of aftershocks, struck 8 km (5 miles) from the town of Petit Trou de Nippes, about 150 km west of the capital Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 km, the United States Geological Survey said.

That made the temblor which was felt as far away as Cuba and Jamaica potentially bigger and shallower than the magnitude 7 earthquake 11 years ago that killed tens of thousands on the island.

This one - which occurred around 8.30am local time - hit farther away from the capital, however.

Meanwhile, another earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck the South Sandwich Islands region on Monday, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.

The quake was at a depth of 10 km (six miles) and occurred 2,960 km east-north-east of Punta Arenas, Chile EMSC said.

No immediate tsunami threat was issued after the quake, according to the U.S. Tsunami Warning System.

Share this post