Strong but Deep Earthquake Hits off New Caledonia

A strong, but deep, 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit off the Loyalty Islands in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia on Thursday but there was no tsunami alert, seismologists said.

The quake struck 397 kilometres (246 miles) east-northeast of the New Caledonia capital Noumea at a depth of 117 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

"A destructive tsunami was not generated because this earthquake is located too deep inside the earth," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

New Caledonia lies on the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", a zone of frequent seismic activity caused by friction between shifting tectonic plates.