Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

A magnitude 7.9 earthquake hit off eastern Papua New Guinea on Saturday, and a tsunami threat was issued for nearby areas. 

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the temblor hit 132.8 kilometers (82.5 miles) east of Kokopo town at a depth of 103.2 km at 8.51 p.m.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was a threat of tsunami in nearby parts of the Pacific. 

Residents of the remote Solomon Islands rushed into the hills after a powerful 7.8 earthquake struck early on Dec. 9, with some reports of small tsunami waves as aftershocks rattled the South Pacific nation. 

A powerful earthquake struck hours ago in New Zealand near the city of Christchurch, with strong tremors causing damage to buildings in the capital, Wellington, over 200 kilometers (120 miles) away.

Authorities have issued a tsunami warning, urging people near the coast of the South Island to move to “higher ground.”

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Ecuador on April 20, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said, just days after a major quake hit the country killing nearly 500 people. 

The quake was centred 70 km (44 miles) west-southwest of Esmeraldas at a shallow depth of 10 km, it said, not far from the epicenter of the 7.8 magnitude quake on April 16.

A 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea on May 5, sending frightened residents fleeing from their homes, but a threatened tsunami passed without incident, seismologists said.

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 hit Taiwan's eastern coast on April 20, the U.S. Geological Survey said, shaking offices in the capital, Taipei. 

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of a tsunami after the quake, which had been measured at 6.3 by Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau.