BREAKING NEWS: A 7.8 magnitude and a 7.3 magnitude earthquake have struck off the northwest of Santo, Vanuatu, and Pacific islands - including New Zealand - are on tsunami warnings of varying levels.The quakes hit at 11.03 NZ time and 15 minutes later and the epicentres were located around 373 km north-northwest of Santo, Vanuatu, at a depth of 33 km, the US Geological Survey reports.There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.A spokeswoman from Hotel Santo, in Luganville, said people were worried, but had not evacuated. She had lived in Vanuatu for 30 years."We're a bit anxious, but fine ... it was the biggest one I've felt here in a long time," she said."It was slow, but went on for quite a few seconds … It was very slow, gentle, everything just moved and went on. It wasn't sharp."The spokeswoman was aware of the tsunami alert, but only through internet reports of the quake.A spokesman at the popular Le Meridian resort in Port Vila said that, because the quake was centred off another island, the impact was small. He said they were aware of the tsunami alert and was monitoring the situation without evacuating guests.Wendy who runs the Seachange Resort in Port Vila said the quake was minor and they had not evacuated guests."The quake that we had here, it was no difference from anything else. It was a two second blip."The earthquake's location - 373 km north-northwest of Santo, Vanuatu – would most likely affect the Banks and Torres Islands, she said.A local living in that area had contacted the resort for information on the tsunami warning issued, but there had been no large waves at that stage, she said.She said the region was regularly rocked by earthquakes.WARNINGS IN EFFECTThe Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii has issued a tsunami warning in effect for Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Kiribati, Kosrae, Wallis-Futuna and Howland-Baker.A tsunami watch, a lower level of alert, has been advised for both New Zealand and Australia as well as Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands and Indonesia. Any wave would reach New Zealand around 2.34pm.New Zealand Civil Defence is urging all people to clear beaches in Northland and East Cape and if in boats, to get off the water. Civil Defence has advised all fire, police and local councils to be on standby.Reporters in Samoa say they were initially unaware of the latest tsunami alert.A Fairfax photographer in Samoa, just recovering from a devastating tsunami caused by a quake has said that people in Samoa are now making their way to high ground in fear of a repetition of the waves that struck last week.An earlier 6.2 magnitude quake struck southeast of the Philippines at a greater depth of 582.8 kilometres. There were no reports of damage.Should a tsunami reach New Zealand, it will hit at the following times:* North Cape _ 2.34pm* East Cape _ 3.16pm* Auckland (West) _ 3.33pm* Gisborne 3.49pm* New Plymouth 4.10pm* Auckland (East) 4.14pm* Napier 4.29pm* Milford Sound 4.35pm* Wellington 4.39pm* Westport 4.50pm. - with Reuters
Two quakes, a 7.8 and a 7.3 15 mins apart.We've got tsunami warnings all around the pacific.Everybody's quite edgy after Samoa.
