Offshore Vanuatu earthquake prompts tsunami warning

An offshore earthquake near Vanuatu prompted a tsunami warning on Saturday, October 24, with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre saying hazardous waves were possible along coasts within 300 kilometres of the epicentre. The warning followed preliminary seismic readings from the South Pacific region. The centre said the potential for hazardous waves applied to coasts within that distance; the reports do not establish the warning’s later status or whether waves reached shore. Monitoring accounts differed over whether the readings represented one earthquake or two. Several initial reports described a magnitude 7.2 event and a second reading of magnitude 6.9, recorded about 25 seconds later, but said it was not clear whether these were separate quakes or revised estimates of one event. The readings placed the first reported epicentre about 200 kilometres west of Sola, at a depth of roughly 10 kilometres. The second reading was located about 197 kilometres west-northwest of Port-Olry, also at a depth of 10 kilometres. These locations and measurements were preliminary. One report said the U.S. Geological Survey later revised the first earthquake’s preliminary magnitude from 7.2 to...