No damage has been reported on Tonga's main island following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake this morning.
Waves just a few centimetres high washed ashore on Tongatapu.
Radio and TV Tonga news editor Talita Tuipulotu says fortunately there have been no causalities although locals have been calling in wanting to know
if work and school is still being held today.
Authorities are still waiting to hear whether the 47 other inhabited islands have suffered any damage.
Civil Defence in New Zealand cancelled its tsunami warning following the earthquake.
It had earlier said a tsunami was "possible" but unlikely.
The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at 7.17am NZT at a depth of 10km. Its epicentre was about 210 km south-south-east of the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa.
The quake came after an undersea volcano has been erupting for days in the region.
A tsunami warning was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre and Civil Defence had been monitoring the situation.
"There's a tsunami in the water, but it's not gonna do much," said Robert Cessaro, a geophysicist with the tsunami centre told CNN.
Jose C. Borrero, a researcher with Raglan based oceanographic consultants ASR Limited and the University of Southern California, told nzherald.co.nz that any tsunami hitting New Zealand was likely to be limited.
He said: "Because of the orientation of the Tonga-Kermadec trench relative to New Zealand, tsunami generated from this area are not 'aimed' towards NZ, so the wave heights are quite small upon reaching Northland or the Bay of Plenty".
GNS Science convened its tsunami expert panel and all available New Zealand and international data about the earthquake and sea levels was being monitored earlier this morning.
Civil Defence spokesman Vince Cholewa said: "There is no evidence that a tsunami has been generated, but an earthquake of that magnitude at that shallow a depth can theoretically create a tsunami. If it did, it would most probably only be in the Tongan region."
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre earlier predicted these times for a tsunami to hit if one was formed by the earthquake, which was not confirmed:
Tonga, Nukualofa - 7.45am NZT
Niue, Niue Islands - 8.04am NZT
Kermadec Is, Raoul Islands - 8.12am NZT
American Samoa, Pago Pago - 8.25am NZT
Samoa, Apia - 8.34am NZT
Wallis-Futuna, Wallis Is. - 8.47am NZT
Fiji, Suva - 9.03am NZT
- NZ HERALD STAFF
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