Strong 6.5 quake rattles Vanuatu: USGS

A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the South Pacific island of Vanuatu today, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning.

A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the South Pacific island of Vanuatu on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning.

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There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage either.

The quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of eight kilometres, around 150 kilometres south east of the capital Port Vila.

Vanuatu lies on the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", a zone of frequent seismic activity caused by friction between shifting tectonic plates.

The earthquake hit shortly after 9.00am (around 0330 IST), USGS said.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an information bulletin but no alert, saying "a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no tsunami threat to Hawaii".