New Zealand asks its inhabitants to move away from the coast.
A precautionary measure taken after a violent earthquake, of magnitude 7.7 according to the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS), shook the region of the Loyalty Islands and New Caledonia in the Pacific on Wednesday.
The earthquake triggered a tsunami warning, says the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
"We expect New Zealand's coastal regions to be exposed to unusually strong currents and unpredictable rise in water levels," the New Zealand Emergency Management Agency said.
"People at sea or on the coast must return inland, away from beaches, coastlines, ports and estuaries," she adds.
Zone of intense seismic activity
The USGS initially reported a magnitude of 7.9, which it then revised to 7.5 and then 7.7.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located about 400 kilometers southeast of the Loyalty Islands archipelago, and about 430 kilometers from Vanuatu, according to the USGS.
New Caledonia is located in the southwest of the Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,500 km east of Australia.
The region encompassing New Caledonia and neighboring Vanuatu is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the most intense areas of earthquake activity on the planet.
The Australian plate bearing New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands plunges under the Vanuatu arc creating the Vanuatu Trench.
