Powerful earthquake strikes under sea near Fiji
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-13 14:45

A powerful undersea earthquake struck near Fiji on Tuesday, geologists said, and officials issued a tsunami alert for the local area. No oversized waves, damage or injuries were immediately reported.

The magnitude 6.6 quake hit at 3:16 p.m. (0316 GMT) about 255 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of Vanua Levu, the main tourist spot in Fiji's chain of islands, at a depth of 29 kilometers (18 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The survey initially reported the quake at magnitude 6.3, but revised it's power upward. It also withdrew an earlier report of a powerful aftershock nearby. Seismological data are often revised in the aftermath of a big temblor.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a bulletin that said there was no Pacific-wide threat of a destructive tsunami, but that quakes of the size measured Tuesday could cause damaging local tsunamis.

Nilesh Kumar, technical officer at Fiji's Mineral Resources Department, said there had been no reports of any tsunami and no reports from anywhere in Fiji of shakes being felt.

Kumar said the department was maintaining a watch and was in communication with the warning center in Hawaii.