A 7.7. magnitude earthquake struck the South Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, prompting tsunami warnings for New Zealand and Fuji but not Hawaii.
ABC News reports that the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said “widespread hazardous tsunami waves” were possible after the quake, which hit just north of New Zealand. Guam and Hawaii have not received tsunami warnings, and the tsunami watch for American Samoa has been dropped. The region the quake struck sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a series of fault lines around the ocean.
The National Emergency Management Agency of New Zealand warned earlier today that coastal areas of the country should expect “strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore.” The waves are expected to reach between 0.3 and one metre above tide level, while smaller waves have been forecast for Australia, the Cook Islands, and American Samoa.
Prior to the arrival of the 7.7 quake, a 6.2 quake struck the Indonesian island Sumatra. There are currently no reports of casualties or damage from the earthquake, which the U.S. Geological Agency initially recorded at 7.5, as Metro pointed out.
