A HUGE 7.1-magnitude earthquake has hit near Tonga and Niue in the Pacific Ocean and prompted a tsunami warning.
The US Geological Survey reported that the earthquake occurred approximately 62 miles northeast of the primary island of Tongatapu during the early hours of Monday local time.
A tsunami warning has now been issued for Tonga – which is home to 100,000 people across 45 islands.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an alert saying hazardous waves could be possible for coasts located within 185 miles of the epicentre.
Tonga and Niue, which is northeast of where the quake struck, could now see a tsunami wave of between 0.3m to one metre.
Alerts were issued to countries like the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Kermadec Islands, American Samoa, and Wallis and Fortuna, warning of potential waves measuring less than 30cm.
The quake struck six miles deep, far shallower than the Boxing Day tsunami which was 18 miles deep.
A shallow quake would shake the ground more severely, raising the risk of a major tsunami.
Due to the timing of the earthquake, which occurred during the night in the region with sparse population, it may take some time before reports of any damage caused by the tremor surface.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology says their is no risk of tsunami for the land down under.
Tonga was hammered by the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano that erupted in 2022, covering the most populated islands in ash.
The eruption left a crater in the seabed and produced Earth’s biggest atmospheric explosion in over 100 years.
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