Huge 7.8 earthquake prompts Pacific tsunami warning

A huge 7.8-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami warning for large parts of the South Pacific on Thursday, days after giant waves killed 177 people in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga.

By Nuclear Power Daily Editorial Team · Editorial process

Published October 7, 2009

A huge 7.8-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami warning for large parts of the South Pacific on Thursday, days after giant waves killed 177 people in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga.

The quake struck 294 kilometres (183 miles) from Vanuatu's Espiritu Santo island at a shallow depth of 35 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

It prompted a tsunami alert for Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu and New Caledonia, among others.

The giant tremor comes 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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Nuclear Power Daily Editorial Team

The Nuclear Power Daily Editorial Team produces content across our two editorial pillars: space industry news and Mind & Meaning. We cover launches, missions, satellites, defense, and the technology of getting humans to space, alongside the psychology of ambition, isolation, and meaning under extremes. Articles reflect our team's collective editorial process, source verification, drafting, technical review, and editing, rather than a single writer's work. Nuclear Power Daily takes editorial responsibility for content under this byline. For more on how we work, see our editorial policy.