A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck in the South Pacific on Thursday, has triggered a small tsunami.

The quake hit at just after midnight on Thursday local time (1320 GMT Wednesday) about 415 kilometres (258 miles) east of Vao in New Caledonia at a depth of 10 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey. The development has been confirmed by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.  In a tweet, the Bureau wrote, "TSUNAMI CONFIRMED. Observation - Norfolk Is at 2:15am AEDT. MARINE THREAT warning for LORD HOWE ISLAND. Issued by JATWC 3:01 AM AEDT Thu 11 Feb 2021. Tsunami affecting marine area commencing after 2:45 am AEDT Thu, persisting for several hours ."It  has also issued a warning to Lord Howe Island, which is about 550 kilometres (340 miles) east of Australia?s mainland. 

However, the Tsunami alert was later cancelled by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. In a tweet it wrote," Overnight, a Tsunami Marine Warning was issued for Lord Howe Island. It has now been cancelled. The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre issued the warning following a 7.6 magnitude earthquake near New Caledonia. "

Locals in the Vanuatu capital Port Vila said they felt the quake but there was no damage from either the shake or subsequent waves. The New Zealand National Emergency Management Agency warned of "strong and unusual currents" in northern coastal areas but said there was no tsunami risk.

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