Tsunami warning cancelled for Pacific

A tsunami warning has been cancelled for the Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia after a quake struck near Vanuatu shortly after 5am today.

The 7.2 scale earthquake was 20km deep but never considered a potential threat to New Zealand and an advisory notice issued by the New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence was cancelled shortly before 7am.

The Ministry said: "Scientific analysis suggests that there is no threat to New Zealand, based on the earthquake magnitude, location and orientation to New Zealand," a ministry spokesman said.

Earlier the ministry said it was issuing an advisory notice and not a warning although earthquakes of 7.2 had the potential to generate a tsunami.

It briefly advised people in coastal areas to stay off beaches, out of the water and not to go sightseeing.

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