Earthquakes off islands

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck off New Caledonia yesterday and was followed by a 5.6 quake in waters off neighbouring Vanuatu, seismologists said.

The first quake was centred about 380km east of Noumea, capital of New Caledonia, at 3.12pm (NZT) at a depth of 35km and was too far away from any populated areas to cause any damage, the United States Geological Survey said.

The quake was followed just over 90 minutes later by another, 295km from Luganville in Vanuatu at a depth of just 10km.