(Sydney) A 6.2 magnitude earthquake occurred Thursday off the Tonga Islands, announced the American Seismological Institute (USGS), an archipelago devastated in mid-January by a volcanic eruption followed by a tsunami.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
The earthquake occurred at 1:40 a.m. EST at a depth of 14.5 km 219 kilometers northwest of the city of Pangai, a town on Lifuka Island.
No damage was initially reported and it does not appear to have been felt in Tonga or neighboring Fiji.
This area of the Pacific has seen daily seismic activity since the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption on January 15.
The eruption of this volcano, about 65 kilometers north of the capital Nuku’alofa, caused a tsunami that affected 85% of the population of the archipelago, according to the United Nations.
This “unprecedented” disaster, according to the government, left three dead in Tonga and two on beaches in Peru due to waves linked to the tsunami.