New Caledonia tsunami threat has 'largely passed'

The threat of hazardous tsunami waves in New Caledonia and Vanuatu have "largely passed" following a magnitude 7 undersea earthquake this morning.

Residents in coastal areas are still being urged to stay alert but the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said the threat has now "largely passed".

The agency previously said small tsunamis had been detected and forecast waves up to one metre above the high tide level to hit parts of New Caledonia and smaller waves for Vanuatu.

"We are a little bit scared, we have had an earthquake last night and today it was quite a big one," said Wayan Rigault, communications manager at Hotel Nengone Village on the island of Mare, which is the closest landmass to the epicentre.

Mr Rigault said there was no immediate damage, but guests were on alert for a formal evacuation warning.

Vanuatu's National Disaster Management Office advised people in southern provinces to evacuate coastal areas for higher ground.

New Caledonia's civil security agency said it was still compiling data, and was not planning to evacuate immediately.

Authorities in Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii said there were no tsunami threats to the coastlines of those countries.

Monday's quake, initially reported as magnitude 7.3, struck at a shallow depth of 10 km about 82 km east of New Caledonia, and is the second major tremor in the same area in just over 12 hours and the third in the past month.