7.1 quake rocks Tongan capital

Source: Agencies  |   2008-10-19  |     ONLINE EDITION

A MAGNITUDE 7.1 earthquake has rocked southern Tonga but there are no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The powerful temblor triggered no tsunami alert from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii.

The quake, which occurred shortly after 5am local time today (1700 GMT yesterday) has been widely felt in the archipelago's southern islands and it rocked the capital, Nuku'alofa, for up to two minutes.

It was centered 152 kilometers southeast of the capital at a depth of 33 kilometers in the South Pacific ocean.

Local residents say unlike previous major quakes it did not knock items off shelves in homes or local shops.

Tonga is near the end of the Pacific "Ring of Fire" -- a line of volcanoes and earthquake fault lines stretching from Chile in South America up through Alaska to Japan and down the western Pacific to New Zealand and Tonga.