CRISISBOOM

washingtonpost

Tsunami animation courtsey GDACS

NEW YORK — The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting a powerful undersea earthquake off the South Pacific island of Vanuatu.

The U.S.G.S. says a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck at 5:19 a.m. Sunday local time (1819 GMT) at a depth of 28.5 kilometers (17.7 miles). Its epicenter was 69 kilometers (42 miles) south-southwest of the Vanuatu capital of Port-Vila.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says no tsunami warning is in effect.

Vanuatu is part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching from South America through Alaska and down through the South Pacific.