Powerful 6.3 quake hits off Tonga, Samoan islands: USGS

A powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck in seas off Tonga and the Samoan islands today, two days after a giant tremor and devastating tsunami killed 150 people.

A powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck in seas off Tonga and the Samoan islands today, two days after a giant tremor and devastating tsunami killed 150 people. No immediate tsunami alert was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii and Australian experts said the tremor was likely too small to create another deadly wave.

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"I don't think there is a particular tsunami danger from that earthquake," Geoscience Australia seismologist Phil Cummins told AFP.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake, at a shallow depth of just 10 kilometres, struck 242 kilometres off Tonga's northwest island of Neiafu.

The epicentre was 377 kilometres from American Samoa capital Pago Pago, which was hard-hit by this week's 8.0 earthquake and tsunami.

Dozens of aftershocks have rocked the region since giant waves smashed the South Pacific islands on Wednesday, obliterating villages and tourist resorts in Samoa and American Samoa. Nine Tongans were killed when the tsunami swamped its outlying island of Niuatoputapu, causing widespread devastation.