Tsunami Confirmed After Major Earthquake Reported Southwest of Fiji

After seeing a 7.7 magnitude earthquake Wednesday morning, another large earthquake has been reported near the Loyalty Islands region around 1:24PM PST. The most recent earthquake was an aftershock that had a magnitude of 6.7. Thankfully no tsunami threat is associated with the most recent earthquake for Australia or the Western United States Coastline. https://twitter.com/NWS_NTWC/status/1359617069428264960 A major earthquake occurred Wednesday morning in the Pacific Ocean near the South New Hebrides Trench, about 250 miles east of New Caledonia. The magnitude has been updated to 7.7, after initially being reported around 7.9 before being downgraded to 7.5. A tsunami was confirmed on Twitter by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The Bureau warned of marine threats to Lord Howe Island which is a few hundred miles east of Australia's mainland. The warning for Lord Howe Island has now been lifted. https://twitter.com/BOM_au/status/1359535369532932096 An earthquake watch was issued for American Samoa. It has since been removed with no tsunami expected. The Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu are expecting tsunami waves between 0.3 and 1 meters in height. [embed]https://twitter.com/NZcivildefence/status/1359518480714764288[/embed] New Zealand is also expecting impacts from the waves generated by the quake. The National Emergency Management Agency issued an alert for strong and unusual currents and surges of water. Moderate shaking has been reported on the Isle of Pines, part of the archipelago of New Caledonia. According to the USGS incident page, little to no damage is expected from the shaking itself. This article will be updated as additional information becomes available.