Strong 6.5 quake rattles coast off S Pacific island

A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the South Pacific island of Vanuatu on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage either.

The quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of eight kilometres (five miles), around 150 kilometres south east of the capital Port Vila.

Vanuatu lies on the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", a zone of frequent seismic activity caused by friction between shifting tectonic plates.

The earthquake hit shortly after 9:00am (around 2200 GMT Saturday), USGS said.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an information bulletin but no alert, saying "a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no tsunami threat to Hawaii".

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