A strong 6.8 earthquake rocked the Fiji Region a short time ago; however, the National Weather Service’s Tsunami Warning Center says there’s no threat of Pacific-wide tsunami. As such, people in Hawaii and along the U.S. West Coast don’t need to worry about a tsunami from this earthquake for now.
The earthquake struck at 6:13 pm ET / 12:13pm HT at 16.4 South, 177.0 West. According to USGS, the earthquake’s epicenter was located at a depth of 10 km. There are no reports in of damage in the Fiji Islands at this time. The USGS does caution though that “the population in this region resides in structures that vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though resistant structures exist. The predominant vulnerable building types are informal (metal, timber, GI, etc.) and unknown / miscellaneous types of construction.
The Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu released a statement that said, “based on all available data, a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no tsunami threat to Hawaii.” They add, “This will be the only statement issued for this event unless additional data are received.”
