Powerful quake strikes off the Loyalty Islands; no tsunami threat

Powerful quake strikes off the Loyalty Islands; no tsunami threat

2011-01-13 23:42:33 GMT+7 (ICT)

TADINE, LOYALTY ISLANDS (BNO NEWS) -- A powerful earthquake struck northeast of the Loyalty Islands on early Friday morning, seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued.

The 7.3-magnitude earthquake at 3.16 a.m. local time (1616 GMT Thursday) was centered about 124 kilometers (77 miles) northeast of Tadine, a town on Maré Island of the Loyalty Islands, which are part of New Caledonia, a French territory. It struck about 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no widespread threat of a tsunami.

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