US warning center lifts tsunami alert after 7.7 magnitude quake in South Pacific

The United States Tsunami Warning Center lifted an alert over the South Pacific on Friday, around three hours after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the region.

“Based on all available data, the tsunami threat from this earthquake has now passed,” the center said in a report.

Earlier, people living in the region had been advised to avoid coastal areas after the US Geological Survey (USGS) said a 7.7 magnitude earthquake with a depth of 38 kilometers (23 miles) struck the region.

The epicenter of the quake was near the Loyalty Islands of the French territory New Caledonia, to the west of Fiji and Vanuatu, according to the US National Tsunami Warning Center.

It initially issued a tsunami alert for coasts within 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of the epicenter, and to nearby nations including Vanuatu and Kiribati but later withdrew it.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency also tweeted no tsunami threat was expected for the western US state.