March 24 (Reuters) – A 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck near the Pacific island nation of Tonga on Tuesday, according to the United States Geological Survey, triggering sirens in the capital though no tsunami was expected.
There were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties. Footage from the Tonga Broadcasting Commission showed people gathered on a rooftop in the capital of Nuku’alofa with warning sirens heard in the background.
The Tonga National Disaster Risk Management Office issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas, urging people to move to higher ground or inland.
But the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said “there is no tsunami threat because the earthquake is located too deep inside the earth”.
The USGS said the quake struck at a depth of nearly 238 km (148 miles), and its epicenter was about 150 km from the town of Neiafu.
Tonga sits on the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, one of world’s most geologically active zones, and is subject to frequent earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic activity.
(Reporting by Preetika Parashuraman in Bengaluru and Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Lincoln Feast.)
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