Earthquake

Geoscience Australia says the quake, which struck early this morning, had an epicentre 400 kilometres east of the town of Tadine.

Seismic data indicates the undersea earthquake struck at a depth of 54 kilometres.

Several aftershocks of up to magnitude 6.1 have occurred.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System says hazardous tsunami waves up to a level of 1 metre above the normal tide level are possible for coasts within 1-thousand kilometres of the epicentre with New Caledonia, Vanuatu particularly at risk.

The death toll has now risen to 73, including five members of one family.

Thousands of people left homeless are living in makeshift shelters, and there are fears of a Covid outbreak there.

In recent days Indonesia has endured deadly landslides, the loss of a Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737 with 62 people on board, and a volcanic eruption.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide, and the country has a history of devastating earthquakes and tsunamis. More than 2,000 people were killed in a quake in Sulawesi in 2018.

The magnitude seven quake struck at a depth of 85 kilometres near the border of Morobe and Oro provinces, off the north coast of New Guinea.

Nohoro Akai from the Oro disaster office said a full assessment of damage to buildings and infrastructure was still pending.

But an initial assessment showed that a number of landslides occurred.

"Actually we had a few landslides that covered much of the river systems, not all of them.

The US Geological Survey says the 5-point-8 magnitude quake struck just after 5 o'clock, local time.

It struck 172km east of Niuatoputapu at a depth of 10 kilometres.

There are no initial reports of damage and no tsunami warning has been issued.

Photo: US Geological Survey Caption: A map showing the epicentre of Wednesday morning's earthquake in the waters of Tonga's north. 

The shallow quake struck 25km south of Gisborne just before 1pm. It was widely felt in Whakatāne, which is still reeling from the volcanic eruption.

It was 29km deep and felt as far afield as Cambridge, Hunterville, Dannevirke and even Wellington.

Geonet says the earthquake is not related to the White Island eruption and has confirmed it did not trigger a tsunami. Police said there had not yet been any reports of injuries or damage.

The magnitude of the earthquake was 5.4.

The earthquake was centered 91 kilometers northeast of Hihifo, Tonga.

It struck at the shallow depth of 0.9km (0.6 miles) and its epicentre was near the city of Ridgecrest, about 240km north-east of Los Angeles.

A 6.4 magnitude quake hit the same region on Thursday at a depth of nearly 11km.

As yet, there have been no reports of casualties or of major damage.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said nobody had been killed or injured. A statement after the latest quake said the authorities had seen "no major infrastructure damage" after a survey of the city.

The 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck near Yibin in Changning County, south-east of the provincial capital Chengdu, late on Monday, officials said.

It was followed by several powerful aftershocks.

TV footage showed rescuers pulling injured people from the rubble of collapsed buildings.

More than 4,000 people have had to be relocated because their homes were destroyed or damaged, state media reported.

China Central Television showed the aftermath of a landslide that had blocked a road and left a lorry engulfed in debris.

The quake struck at a depth of 53 kilometers with an epicenter some 15 km southwest of Coquimbo, USGS said.

An elderly man and an elderly woman from Coquimbo suffered cardiac arrests as a result of the quake, police said, while there were several landslides reported on national highways.

The earthquake, which hit at 0132 GMT (Sunday), was felt in Valparaiso, O'Higgins and the region of the capital Santiago, as well as in Atacama and Coquimbo up north.

GeoNet has reported the quake was a magnitude 6.7, although it was centered at a depth of 193km.

Parliament has been suspended after the quake.

More than 15,000 people have already reported feeling the quake on GeoNet.

GNS Science duty siesmologist Lara Bland warned local residents to expect aftershocks.

Ms Bland said longer, rolling quakes tend to produce fewer aftershocks but there would "certainly" be some coming.

Civil Defence said there is no tsunami threat.