New Caledonia has been issued an evacuation order following tsunami waves being spotted after a massive 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck.
“If you don’t have time to prepare your evacuation, get more than 300m away from the coast and/or get to a height of more than 12 meters of altitude,” the Directorate for Civil Protection and Risk Management of New Caledonia said, in a statement.
The civil defence has moved several hundred meters due to one-to-three meter waves being registered, by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, near the country’s coast, Fiji and Vanuatu.
"Hazardous tsunami waves are forecast for some coasts," the warning center stated, warning that the danger zone includes "coasts located within 1000km of the earthquake epicenter."
The quake hit 104 miles east of Tadine Wednesday at a shallow depth of six miles and has been followed by multiple aftershocks measuring between 5.6-6.4.
There were no immediate reports of damage from the tremor.
New Caledonia - a French collective cluster of islands home to about 270,000 people - sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where most of the world's earthquakes and volcanic activity occur.
After Mw 7.5 #earthquake in #loyalty-island, #tsunami waves up to 1m measured in various sealevel stations in #newcaledonia #nouvellecalédonie pic.twitter.com/4d0swRkgon
— SIGNALERT (@Signalert) December 5, 2018