UPDATED: A 6.9-magnitude earthquake rattled Tonga, with residents on Tongatapu, where the Pacific Forum leaders’ meeting is taking place, reporting that they felt it.
There is no tsunami threat after the quake struck at around 12.40pm Tongan time.
Tonga Met Services said the earthquake struck at 20km south of Tonga’s ‘Uiha, Ha’apai at depth of 124km.
There have been no reports of damage or injuries.
Reports on social media said it was “quite a sharp jolt” and long.
There was concern about the tsunami siren not being activated. This concern stemmed from a comparison between today’s 6.9 magnitude earthquake and the 6.7 magnitude earthquake in May, which resulted in a tsunami alert being triggered after the tsunami sirens sounded throughout Tongatapu.
“The above magnitude is provisional and may be increased or decreased as more seismic data becomes available”, Met said.
The news comes after a 4.8 magnitude earthquake rattles large parts of NSW, Australia.
Thousands of people have reported feeling an earthquake over an area spanning hundreds of kilometres from south of Sydney to the NSW mid-north coast.
The 4.8 magnitude quake hit Denman, around three hours north of Sydney in the upper Hunter region, at 12.02pm on Friday (local time).
More than 2000 people had reported feeling tremors in the following hour, including many residents more than 200km away in Sydney.
