7.3 earthquake hits South Pacific, minutes after 7.8: USGS

A major 7.3 earthquake struck off Vanuatu just minutes after a 7.8 quake nearby triggered a tsunami warning for large parts of the South Pacific, the US Geological Survey said Thursday.

By Nuclear Power Daily Editorial Team · Editorial process

Published October 7, 2009

A major 7.3 earthquake struck off Vanuatu just minutes after a 7.8 quake nearby triggered a tsunami warning for large parts of the South Pacific, the US Geological Survey said Thursday.

The earthquake struck 330 kilometres (205 miles) from Luganville on Vanuatu's Espiritu Santo island at 9:18 am (2218 GMT), just 15 minutes after the earlier tremor.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami alert for Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu and New Caledonia, among others.

The earthquakes come just eight days after an 8.0-magnitude South Pacific earthquake hurled a wall of water at the Samoan islands and Tonga, obliterating entire villages.

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