<p>The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the shallow quake generated a tsunami, but it cancelled a regional warning after the wave measured only 15 centimetres (six inches) higher than normal in Vanuatu.<br /><br />"Sea level readings confirm that a tsunami was generated," the centre said in its bulletin.<br /><br />"This tsunami may have been destructive along coastlines of the region near the earthquake epicentre," it said, but cancelled the warning when no destructive wave hit.<br /><br />The quake struck at 12:16 am today (1316 GMT Saturday), and the initial tsunami warning covered Vanuatu, Fiji and the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia. There were no reports of damage or casualties.<br /><br />Jackie Philip, a member of staff at the Melanesian Port Vila Hotel in the Vanuatu capital, said the hotel was busy with late-night Christmas revellers when the quake struck.<br /><br />"Some of us, we ran outside and stood and watched the sea for a few minutes but nothing happened. There is no damage and no injuries," he said, adding that no tsunami warning had been given on local radio.<br /><br />A receptionist at Port Vila's Grand Hotel called it a "small" earthquake, adding that calls to the meteorological office went unanswered. Staff at the nearby Island Magic Hotel also said there had been no local tsunami warning.<br /><br />"We haven't had any notification of a tsunami," a worker told AFP. "We definitely felt the earthquake but we are notified if there's actually a tsunami."<br /><br />Meteorological and disaster management officials were not available for comment when contacted by AFP.<br /><br />The US Geological Survey said the quake was just 12.3 kilometres deep, and its epicentre was 145 kilometres west of Isangel, on the island of Tanna -- home to an active volcano -- in the Vanuatu archipelago.<br /><br />The USGS revised its initial readings for the magnitude and distances involved, after first recording the quake at 7.6.<br /><br />At least a dozen aftershocks of magnitude 5.0 or greater hit the area after the main tremor, according to USGS, including a powerful 6.2-magnitude shock some 12 hours after the initial quake.<br /><br />Vanuatu, which lies between Fiji and Australia and north of New Zealand, is part of the "Pacific Ring of Fire" -- an ocean-wide area alive with seismic and volcanic activity caused by the grinding of enormous tectonic plates.</p>
<p>The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the shallow quake generated a tsunami, but it cancelled a regional warning after the wave measured only 15 centimetres (six inches) higher than normal in Vanuatu.<br /><br />"Sea level readings confirm that a tsunami was generated," the centre said in its bulletin.<br /><br />"This tsunami may have been destructive along coastlines of the region near the earthquake epicentre," it said, but cancelled the warning when no destructive wave hit.<br /><br />The quake struck at 12:16 am today (1316 GMT Saturday), and the initial tsunami warning covered Vanuatu, Fiji and the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia. There were no reports of damage or casualties.<br /><br />Jackie Philip, a member of staff at the Melanesian Port Vila Hotel in the Vanuatu capital, said the hotel was busy with late-night Christmas revellers when the quake struck.<br /><br />"Some of us, we ran outside and stood and watched the sea for a few minutes but nothing happened. There is no damage and no injuries," he said, adding that no tsunami warning had been given on local radio.<br /><br />A receptionist at Port Vila's Grand Hotel called it a "small" earthquake, adding that calls to the meteorological office went unanswered. Staff at the nearby Island Magic Hotel also said there had been no local tsunami warning.<br /><br />"We haven't had any notification of a tsunami," a worker told AFP. "We definitely felt the earthquake but we are notified if there's actually a tsunami."<br /><br />Meteorological and disaster management officials were not available for comment when contacted by AFP.<br /><br />The US Geological Survey said the quake was just 12.3 kilometres deep, and its epicentre was 145 kilometres west of Isangel, on the island of Tanna -- home to an active volcano -- in the Vanuatu archipelago.<br /><br />The USGS revised its initial readings for the magnitude and distances involved, after first recording the quake at 7.6.<br /><br />At least a dozen aftershocks of magnitude 5.0 or greater hit the area after the main tremor, according to USGS, including a powerful 6.2-magnitude shock some 12 hours after the initial quake.<br /><br />Vanuatu, which lies between Fiji and Australia and north of New Zealand, is part of the "Pacific Ring of Fire" -- an ocean-wide area alive with seismic and volcanic activity caused by the grinding of enormous tectonic plates.</p>