Tsunami alert lifted after 7.7-magnitude Pacific quake
Tsunami alert lifted after 7.7-magnitude Pacific quake
A tsunami warning in the Pacific has been lifted after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck on Friday, sending many islanders fleeing the coast.
The quake hit at 0257 GMT, prompting people on multiple South Pacific islands to race to higher ground as sirens warned of possible hazardous waves.
"Based on all available data the tsunami threat from this earthquake has now passed," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a statement.
The Honolulu-based body had earlier issued tsunami warnings for coastal areas within 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) of the epicentre, which lay east of the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia.
Vanuatu had been identified as the island threatened with the largest waves from the quake.
Benie Simo, a local tour operator on Mystery Island in Vanuatu, said he received a government warning via text message to evacuate and moved to higher ground.
The waves, he said, were coming up "really high", describing them as being about one to two metres tall and noting that so far there were no reports of damage.
"People are just doing exactly what they're being told... So they're just going up to the higher ground until they're told it's all safe to come back down," he said.
"Gotta be cautious, and people just follow the protocols."
