Fiji

The tremor struck at 3.49am at a depth of 608 kilometres.

It was centred 101 kilometres east-southeast of the capital Suva.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre says the earthquake was so deep it is unlikely to make a dangerous tsunami.

There have been no reports of damage.

However, residents in parts of the main island of Viti Levu commented on social media that they were awoken to shaking. 

The Barramundis made their dominance show from the very first game when Tony Ura smashed a century of just 47 balls, to guide PNG past 200 against Samoa.

Samoa barely put up a challenge and could only manage 129 in their 20 overs, with Chad Soper picking up 4 wickets - 3 of them coming in one over - for only 10 runs.

Hosts Fiji were next as the Hebou PNG Barramundis played back-to-back matches on the first day, this time falling shy of the 200 run mark by 12 runs.

People in Tonga are reporting only minor damage, while the earthquake was widely felt in Fiji, but there are no reports of damage.

The epicentre was 270km east of Levuka in Fiji and 443km west of Neiafu in Tonga and hit just before 1pm.

It didn't trigger a tsunami as it was too deep at 580 kilometres.

Ta Lita Kefu from Nukuʻalofa said she was outside when the earthquake began.

The PRPW has launched a campaign to address what they call the under representation of Pacific nations at the council.

'Seats At The Table' is a new initiative seeking to highlight the fact that Samoa, Tonga and Fiji have less voting power on the council than Canada, Georgia, Romania and the USA and far less influence than Japan and Italy.

Samoa, Tonga and Fiji have a share of two of the 48 votes on the World Rugby Council - those two votes are held by Rugby Oceania, which represents 12 countries, including New Zealand and Australia.

The Grace Road Church has extensive business networks in Fiji, but the government said these would not be affected by Shin Ok-joo's arrest.

The police in South Korea said Ms Shin, who was arrested last week, has been charged with slavery and foreign exchange violation.

Her church believes an armageddon is coming, and Fiji is the only place in the world that will escape it.

Up to 400 Korean followers are reported to have worked in Fiji, but South Korean authorities said their passports were confiscated and they're not being allowed to leave.

Forty kilogrammes of cocaine were found earlier this month on the same island.

The defence force said more than 12 kilogrammes of the drug was found on the island in the Lau group last week.

A New Zealand navy ship is helping Fiji patrol its waters and it moved in after a request from Fiji's customs agency.

An earlier 40 kilogramme cocaine haul is estimated to be worth about $US15 million.

An Australian couple have also appeared in court for smuggling 15 kilograms of cocaine and $US10 to 15 million worth of ecstasy into Fiji.

Sitiveni Rabuka was charged in June by the anti-corruption body, FICAC, for providing a false declaration of assets, income and liabilities.

The former prime minister and coup leader has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Mr Rabuka's party, SODELPA, says the unforeseen request from FICAC for a further round of interviews has meant he had to call short his week of meetings in Macuata.

It gave no details about what it is FICAC wanted to talk about.

The operation was initiated when the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) was tipped off that there were bars found on an island in Lau believed to contain illicit drugs.

The information led to a joint operation between FRCS, Police and the Fiji Navy in seizing the bars from the island.

According to a statement from FRCS, the bars weighing 40 kilograms were retrieved and secured and after testing were confirmed to be cocaine.

Customs said a search of the boat led to the seizure of a large quantity of a mix of ammunition.

Revenue and Custom chief executive Visvanath Das said the agency's intelligence and profiling processes were determining high-risk vessels and collaborative efforts with Fiji police and the navy led to the seizure.

He said customs last weekend discovered a massive drug find on an Australian-based yacht and now officers had exposed another smuggling attempt.

The contest between Fiji and Tonga on the pitch at Churchill Park in Lautoka had been fierce in high temperatures – not only were players’ shirts sopping from the heat but so were there shorts – yet once the final whistle blew there was a show of togetherness. The islanders may be huge rugby rivals, but they also share a common bond in faith.

Fiji were crowned Pacific Nations Cup champions the previous week, but it was Tonga who came out on top in this one-off Test, securing their first win over the Fijians since 2011.