The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned that a tsunami was “possible” within a radius of 1,000 km around the epicenter.
A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Friday in the Pacific Ocean in southeastern New Caledonia, according to the American Institute of Geophysics.
The tremor was monitored at a depth of 37 km and 333.8 km off the coast of Caledonia, according to the same source.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned that a tsunami was “possible” within a radius of 1,000 km around the epicenter.
“Based on preliminary earthquake data, dangerous tsunamis are likely to occur on coasts located 1,000 kilometers from the epicenter,” the center said in a statement.
The center urged residents of the threatened coastal areas to exercise caution.
Later, the Civil Defense announced the evacuation of the coast of the island.
A receptionist in Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, told AFP she had not felt any earthquakes.
Due to its location in the southwest Pacific Ocean, New Caledonia is vulnerable to the direct or induced effects of earthquakes: local or trans-oceanic tremors and tsunamis.
The Pacific Ring of Fire is home to 75 percent of the planet’s volcanoes and 80 percent of the largest earthquakes.
