New Caledonia, May 19 (BNA) The threat of a tsunami across the South Pacific has passed and national alerts have been lowered in the wake of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake on Friday southeast of the Loyalty Islands in the French territory of New Caledonia.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said the tsunami threat had largely passed Friday afternoon, Reuters reports.
It had earlier warned of the possibility of waves rising to one meter above tide level across 26 locations in the South Pacific Ocean.
Vanuatu reversed its warning to seek higher areas and said a destructive tsunami was no longer expected, according to the Vanuatu Department of Meteorology and Geographical Hazards website.
Following the earthquake, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology issued a tsunami threat for Lord Howe Island off its east coast and warned approximately 450 people to leave the water’s edge because of the strong waves and currents.
This was later downgraded to a Naval Warning.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake occurred at a depth of about 38 kilometers.
insignificant