WELLINGTON, May 3: A massive earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 rocked Tonga in the Pacific early on Thursday. However damage was minimal and initial tsunami warnings for the South Pacific were withdrawn within two hours.
The US Geological Survey said a ‘great’ quake struck at 4:26am local time (1526 GMT) in the middle of the islands that make up Tonga.
However there were few reports of injury or damage in Tonga, although a hotel guest hurt his leg when he jumped from a third-floor window.
“He was the only tourist injured. He jumped from his room, maybe he was afraid,” said William Vea, the night receptionist at the Pacific Royale Hotel.
Other guests walked out of hotels in the South Pacific island nation popular with tourists and waited patiently in the streets until they were allowed back to their rooms.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre initially called on New Zealand and Fiji to take immediate action against a possible giant wave caused by the quake.
But two hours later it scaled back the warning and said the earthquake was only expected to generate half-metre swells around New Zealand.
“It looks like there was a half-meter tsunami at Niue and Pago Pago, near the epicentre of the quake, but this was a small local event and the possibility of a larger tsunami heading to New Zealand and Fiji is now starting to look unlikely,” said Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre oceanographer Nathan Becker.—AFP
