NOUMEA: A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck in the South Pacific on Thursday, generating a tsunami that threatened island nations in the region.

The quake struck at just after midnight on Thursday local time (1320 GMT Wednesday) about 415 kilometres (258 miles) east of Vao in New Caledonia at a depth of 10 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey. The US government’s NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said “hazardous tsunami waves” were forecast for some coasts. It said waves reaching between 0.3 and one metre above the tide level were possible for Fiji, New Zealand and Vanuatu. A wave of 0.3 metres struck Fiji, according to the Twitter feed of the island nation’s seismology department.

It provided no further details. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology also confirmed in a tweet that a tsunami had been generated. The New Zealand National Emergency Management Agency released a statement telling people in coastal areas to move away from waterfronts.