Strong earthquake hits off Fiji

Sydney, Aug 19: A strong 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck off Fiji today, the US Geological Survey said, but it was too deep to generate a tsunami and there were no immediate reports of damage.

The tremor hit at 12:19 pm (0019 GMT) local time 361 kilometres (224 miles) east of the Pacific nation's capital Suva, at a depth of 559 kilometres, the US seismologists said.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was "no tsunami threat because the earthquake is located too deep inside the Earth". The quake occurred in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a region of frequent seismic activity due to collisions between continental plates.

PTI