South Pacific quake causes alarm

The islands of the south Pacific, including New Zealand and Fiji, were saved from disaster after tsunami warnings, following a powerful earthquake in Tonga a week ago, came to nothing

The quake, which measured 8.1 on the Richter scale, reportedly caused little damage and no-one was killed, according to Reuters.

The tsunami warning, issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which was predicted to affect Suva, Fiji and Gisborne in New Zealand, was also later cancelled after no major oceanic disturbances were recorded.

However the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center stated: "Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicentre."

Geophysicist Barry Hirshorn commented that the warning centre's instruments detected a tsunami of less than two feet in areas close to the earthquake, according to Hawaiian news agency Khon2.

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