A powerful undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 has struck near New Caledonia in the South Pacific, creating small tsunami waves, officials say.
The quake struck at a shallow depth of 10km some 372km east of the New Caledonian capital, Noumea, according to the US Geological Survey. It was initially reported as magnitude 7.
No damage was reported but hazardous tsunami waves of up to a metre were possible in New Caledonia, Fiji and Vanuatu, the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said in a bulletin.
Waves measuring 30cm were possible on island coastlines around the Pacific and as far away as Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand, it said.
New Caledonia's Civil Defence spokesman Olivier Ciry said waves measuring 40cm were recorded on the main island of New Caledonia.
They only reached 5cm high at the Loyalty Islands, which are about 100km closer to the epicentre, he said.
"We felt it and they felt it more strongly on the Loyalty Islands ... there was some movement of the sea but no damage to buildings, no injuries to people and it's over now," Ciry said.
Laisenia Rawace, technical officer at Fiji's seismology monitoring department, said: "We're still monitoring it and on stand-by but there's nothing on the tide gauges for the time being."
The area is located on the earthquake-prone Pacific Rim of Fire. The latest tremor struck 10 days after a massive but very deep quake rocked the sea floor near Fiji.
