Tsunami warning lifted after magnitude 7.7 earthquake shakes far Pacific

A tsunami warning in the Pacific has been lifted after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean southeast of New Caledonia.

"Based on all available data the tsunami threat from this earthquake has now passed," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a statement after the earthquake on Friday.

The US Geological Survey said the quake was detected at 0257 GMT on Friday around 340 kilometres (210 miles) east of Vao city in New Caledonia, a French Pacific territory, and was 37 kilometres (23 miles) deep.

The epicentre is southwest of Fiji, north of New Zealand and east of Australia where the Coral Sea meets the Pacific.

"The first waves arrived at Mare and Ile des Pins (in New Caledonia) but they were no higher than 50 centimetres" above the usual tide, according to civil security chief Frederic Marchi-Leccia.

"Sirens rang all around the territory, and the security forces and firefighters evacuated the coastal areas."

Waves of around half a metre above the tide level were observed at Lenakel in Vanuatu, with slightly smaller ones observed or predicted for several other Pacific islands, according to the Honolulu-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

The centre had earlier said waves up to 1 metre (3 feet) above tides were possible for Vanuatu.

Authorities had called on residents to evacuate coastal areas lower than 12 metres above sea level and less than 300 metres from the shoreline.

Meanwhile, waves up to 3 metres (1 foot) were possible for Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Guam and other Pacific islands.