Strong earthquake hits off Fiji, no tsunami threat

SYDNEY, Australia – A strong 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck off Fiji on Sunday, August 19, the United States (US) Geological Survey said.

But it was too deep to generate a tsunami and there were no reports of damage.

The tremor hit at 12:19 pm local time 361 kilometers east of the Pacific nation’s capital Suva, at a depth of 559 kilometers, the US seismologists said.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was “no tsunami threat because the earthquake is located too deep inside the Earth.”

The quake, and several aftershocks ranging up to magnitude 6.2, were felt as a rippling effect in the outer Lau islands group. But residents in Suva, on the main island of Viti Levu, said they did not feel a thing.

The government’s Seismology Unit issued a statement saying the earthquake “does not pose any immediate threat to the Fiji region due to its deep depth.”

The quake occurred in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a region of frequent seismic activity due to collisions between continental plates. – Rappler.com