World News | Powerful Earthquake Shakes South Pacific Nation of Vanuatu; No Tsunami Threat

Canberra (Australia), Dec 7 (AP) A powerful earthquake shook the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Thursday evening, but countries in the region said there was no threat of a tsunami.

The magnitude 7.1 earthquake was located 123 kilometers (76 miles) south of the town of Isangel on the island of Tanna, the US Geological Agency said. It said the quake was centred at a depth of 48 kilometers (30 miles).

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The chance of fatalities and large economic losses in the sparsely populated area was low, it said.

Vanuatu has a population of about 337,000, with about 1,200 living in Isangel.

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The area is part of the “Ring of Fire”, an arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world's earthquakes occur.

A 7.7 magnitude earthquake in May created small tsunami waves in Vanuatu. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)