Magnitude 8.2 quake strikes in the Pacific

A massive quake of magnitude 8.2 has struck in the Pacific Ocean close to Fiji and Tonga but it was so deep it didn't cause any damage, authorities in Fiji say.

The US Tsunami Warning Center also said the quake on Sunday was too deep to cause a tsunami.

The quake's depth at 560km would have dampened the shaking at the surface.

The director of Fiji's Mineral Resources Department, which runs the country's seismology unit, told Reuters the earthquake was widely felt, but there were no reports of damage.

"We are monitoring the situation and some places felt it, but it was a very deep earthquake," Director Apete Soro said by telephone.

The quake was initially reported as a magnitude 8.0 and then upgraded to 8.2, a magnitude that could cause tremendous damage had it not been so deep.

"I would not expect any damage. People will feel it but it's so deep that I would not expect any damage," USGS geophysicist Jana Pursley said by telephone.

The epicenter was located 270km east of Levuka in Fiji and 443km west of Neiafu in Tonga.

Hotel staff in Neiafu told Reuters by telephone that they did feel the earthquake, but it didn't cause any damage.