Moderate 5.8 quake shakes Tonga

A moderate 5.8 quake hit off Tonga on Sunday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, but there were no immediate reports of damage in the South Pacific island nation.

A moderate 5.8 quake hit off Tonga on Sunday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, but there were no immediate reports of damage in the South Pacific island nation.

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The quake struck at 2:27 am (1327 GMT Saturday) 155 kilometres (95 miles) east-northeast of the capital Nuku'Alofa at a relatively shallow depth of 9.5 kilometres, the USGS said.

Tonga, almost 2,000 kilometres northeast of New Zealand, lies on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", where continental plates collide causing frequent volcanic and seismic activity.

Nine people died in Tonga in an earthquake-triggered tsunami in October 2009 that also killed 143 people in Samoa.