Tsunami warning issued after strong Vanuatu quake cancelled

Port Villa, Aug 12: The tsunami warning which was issued in the wake of an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter off the coast of Vanuatu in South Pacific Ocean was cancelled, ABC Online said.

According to the US Geological Survey, the quake struck about 535 kilometres southeast of Vanuatu on Friday (Aug 12) at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres. There were no initial reporrts of casualties or damage.

Initially, the quale was registered to be of 7.6 magnitude but it was downgraded later.

The earthquake triggered an aftershock of 5.4 magnitude, the USGS informed. Around an hour and half later, another quake of 6.1 magnitude hit around 460 kilometres south-west of Tonga, another island-nationlocated south-east of Vanuatu, the USGS said.

Vanuatu and Tonga are located in a seismic zone around the Pacific called the "Ring of Fire" which is familiar to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

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