A powerful earthquake has struck near the New Caledonia archipelago. The US earthquake monitor USGS estimated the magnitude at 7.7 on Friday. It issued a tsunami warning for the archipelagos of New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji (in the Pacific), expecting waves to be no more than a meter high.
These could hit Vanuatu. Authorities advised residents to take immediate precautions and move from coastal areas to higher elevations. People have also been asked to leave the coastal areas in New Caledonia, a French overseas territory. There are just over 300,000 people living in Vanuatu and about 270,000 in New Caledonia.
The Fiji Islands have a population of nearly 900,000. Here the authorities expect waves of up to 0.3 meters high. The quake near New Caledonia occurred southeast of the Loyalty Islands at a depth of 37 kilometers.
Flooding in New Zealand?
The New Zealand aid organization tweeted that it is closely monitoring the situation. “We expect coastal areas of New Zealand to experience strong and unusual currents and unpredictable coastal tides,” he said. There is no threat to Australia, the meteorological authority there said. New Caledonia is located about 1500 kilometers east of Australia and north of New Zealand.
Source: Krone
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