Strong earthquake strikes south of the Fiji Islands, close to Tonga

May 15th, 2010 - 10:35 pm ICT by BNO News  

SUVA, FIJI (BNO NEWS) — A strong earthquake struck the Tonga region on early Sunday, south of the Fiji Islands, seismologists said. No tsunami warning was issued.

The 5.9-magnitude earthquake at 3.18 a.m. local time (15.18 GMT) was centered about 182 miles (293 kilometers) south-southwest of Nuku’alofa on Tonga, or 526.9 miles (848 kilometers) southeast of Suva on Fiji. It struck about 27.3 miles (44 kilometers) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.

No tsunami warnings were issued and no damage was expected as the quake struck far from land.

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