Large earthquakes strike off Vanuatu but no Pacific-wide tsunami generated
The U.S. Geological Survey reported two large earthquakes this morning in the Vanuatu Islands in the southwest Pacific, and a third smaller one this afternoon.
The temblors poses no a tsunami threat to Hawaii, nor were they expected to generate a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
The first, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake, occurred 6:55 a.m. Hawaii time, with an epicenter 1,149 miles east northeast of Brisbane, Australia. The second, at 7.0 magnitude, struck at 8:19 a.m, in roughly the same area.
A third was a magnitude 5.0, occurring at 2:09 p.m. today, also in the same area.
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center officials in Ewa Beach said while there was no threat of Pacific-wide tsunamis, earthquakes of this size can generate a local tsunami within a hundred kilometers of the epicenter.
There were no immediate reports of damage.
