Strong earthquake hits near Vanuatu, geologists say

Sydney, Mar 7: A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 struck near Vanuatu today (Mar 7, 2006), seismologists in the United States and Australia said.

The quake was centred about 340 km (210) miles northwest of the capital Port Vila and struck at about 1158 hrs ist, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The epicentre was about 80 km northeast of Luganville on the island of Espiritu Santo, the USGS said on its Web site (www.earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter).

It was recorded at a depth of about 160 km.

Geoscience Australia said quakes of that magnitude were fairly common in the region.

A spokeswoman for Geoscience Australia said the quake was also likely much too deep to generate a tsunami.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii had no immediate information about the quake.

REUTERS