A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.8 has struck just off the coast of Fiji, but it was centered far below the seabed, seismologists say. There is no threat of a tsunami.

The earthquake, which struck at 3:49 a.m. local time on Friday, was centered about 41 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of Levuka on Fiji’s Ovalau island. It struck at a depth of 669 kilometers (415 miles).

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) put the preliminary magnitude at 7.8, which is down from an initial estimate of 8.1. It makes it the world’s third largest earthquake so far this year.

“Based on all available data, there is no tsunami threat because the earthquake is located too deep inside the Earth,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin. No tsunami warnings were issued.

The depth of the earthquake significantly reduced its impact. USGS computer models estimate that up to 924,000 people near the epicenter may have felt “weak” or “light” shaking. Serious damage is unlikely.

Friday’s tremor comes less than three weeks after an 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck far below the seabed near Fiji. That earthquake was further away from land but there were no reports of serious damage.

Fiji is on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin which is prone to frequent and large earthquakes. </s> A powerful magnitude 7.9 quake has struck in the Pacific Ocean, 291 km (180 miles) from Ndoi island of Fiji, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The quake hit at a depth of 570km (354 miles), too deep to cause a tsunami. Its power approaches the strongest deep-focus (over 300km deep) quake on record, the magnitude 8.3 Okhotsk Sea quake of 2013.From HawaiiNewsNow There is no tsunami threat to Hawaii after a strong earthquake in the South Pacific basin.Officials at the National Tsunami Warning Center said the quake struck the Fiji Islands region Saturday afternoon, but no Pacific-wide tsunami threat was generated.It initially registered as a 7.9-magnitude earthquake, but since the original alert, the USGS has upgraded the magnitude of the earthquake to an 8.2. </s> A massive quake of magnitude 8.2 struck in the Pacific Ocean close to Fiji and Tonga on Sunday but it was so deep that it was not expected to cause any damage, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning Center also said the quake was too deep to cause a tsunami.

The quake was 347.7 miles (560 km) below the Earth which would have dampened the shaking at the surface.

'I would not expect any damage. People will feel it but it's so deep that I would not expect any damage,' USGS geophysicist Jana Pursley said by telephone.

The quake was initially reported as a magnitude 8.0 and then upgraded to 8.2, a magnitude that could cause tremendous damage had it not been so deep.

The epicenter was located 167 miles (270 km) east of Levuka in Fiji and 275 miles (443 km) west of Neiafu in Tonga.

The area is located on the earthquake-prone Ring of Fire. </s> A huge 7.8 magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Fiji in the Ring of Fire region.

It hit 123 km east south east of Suva, Fiji, at a depth of 669 km, the U.S. Geological Survey said today.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said no destructive Pacific-wide tsunami was expected, and there was no tsunami threat to Hawaii.

It has been downgraded from an initial reading of 8.1 by the US Geological Survey.

Fiji sits on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' where many of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded.

New Zealand's Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management said there was no tsunami threat to New Zealand following the earthquake. </s> FIJI - Shortly after 8 p.m. our time Saturday, a massive earthquake was reported near Fiji in the south Pacific Ocean. It was an 8.2 magnitude earthquake that happened in the deep ocean.

Preliminary reports suggest that there is no tsunami threat to Hawaii. Given the depth of this quake, the tsunami threat is considered low elsewhere too.

If this quake were to happen on land and at a shallower depth, the damage would be major.

As of 9:30 p.m. our time Saturday, we have not heard any reports of damage in Fiji. This is a developing story. </s> Much like Typhoon Shanshan approaching Tokyo wound up being nothing more than a solid rainstorm before the Pan Pac Championships, a massive earthquake off the coast of Fiji isn’t expected to interfere with the Jr. Pan Pac Championships either.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), a magnitude 8.2 earthquake shook the floor of the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, just as the American team was arriving for the meet. Experts believe, however, that it was too deep to cause any damage.

“I would not expect any damage. People will feel it but it’s so deep that I would not expect any damage,” USGS geophysicist Jana Pursley told Reuters.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Tweeted out that while the earthquake is causing tsunami waves, they are not considered dangerous, in spite of the earthquake’s proximity to Suva, where the meet is being held.

An earthquake of magnitude 8.2 on the Richter Scale is extremely rare. According to the USGS, there have only been 11 earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 8.0 in the last 11 years. It is also the highest-magnitude earthquake recorded so far in 2018. The earthquake that caused the 2011 tsunami that devestated Japan was measured at 9.0. </s> The quake was centered 100 km (60 miles) south of Kira Kira on the island of Makira at a depth of 29 km (18 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

"So far we have received no reports of damage," said Constable Taylor Fugo from Kira Kira police. "The people responded very well to the (tsunami) warning. They all went up the hills and have been watching and waiting for advice."

A tsunami warning for the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu was cancelled after only very small tsunami wave activity, just a couple of centimetres, had been measured at two reading stations near the epicentre, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

An earlier tsunami watch for Fiji, Australia, Indonesia and nearby areas was cancelled after the earthquake was revised down from its original magnitude of 8.3.

A series of aftershocks followed the quake, the strongest a magnitude 5.9, hit the region shortly afterwards, the USGS said.

The Solomon Islands straddles the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire," a highly seismically active zone where different plates on the earth's crust meet and create a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes.

A powerful 8.0 magnitude quake in 2013 in a similar area generated a local tsunami that killed at least five people. </s> (CNN) -- A massive 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, roughly 200 miles off Fiji and almost the same distance from Tonga, according to the preliminary report from the US Geological Survey.

The earthquake struck just after midday Sunday and was almost 560 kilometers deep, the USGS said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said based on the data available, a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami was not expected, and there was no threat to Hawaii.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. </s> A powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck near the Solomon Islands on Sunday morning, triggering a tsunami warning that was later cancelled, according to U.S. government agencies, and there were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake was centred 100 km (60 miles) south of Kira Kira on the island of Makira at a depth of 29 km (18 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

"So far we have received no reports of damage," said Constable Taylor Fugo from Kira Kira police. "The people responded very well to the (tsunami) warning. They all went up the hills and have been watching and waiting for advice."

A tsunami warning for the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu was cancelled after only very small tsunami wave activity, just a couple of centimetres, had been measured at two reading stations near the epicentre, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

An earlier tsunami watch for Fiji, Australia, Indonesia and nearby areas was cancelled after the earthquake was revised down from its original magnitude of 8.3.

A series of aftershocks followed the quake, the strongest a magnitude 5.9, hit the region shortly afterwards, the USGS said.

The Solomon Islands straddles the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire," a highly seismically active zone where different plates on the earth's crust meet and create a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes.

A powerful 8.0 magnitude quake in 2013 in a similar area generated a local tsunami that killed at least five people. (Reporting by Lincoln Feast in Sydney; Editing by David Gregorio and Lisa Shumaker)
A deep-focus earthquake of magnitude 8.2 (the strongest recorded in 2018) strikes the South Pacific Ocean near Fiji. No threat of tsunami is immediately detected.