Strong 6.5 earthquake rattles Vanuatu: USGS

The quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of eight kilometres,around 150 kilometres south east of the capital Port Vila.

Vanuatu lies on the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire”,a zone of frequent seismic activity caused by friction between shifting tectonic plates.

The earthquake hit shortly after 9:00am (around 0330 IST),USGS said.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an information bulletin but no alert,saying “a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no tsunami threat to Hawaii”.