Magnitude 7.9 earthquake hits Pacific near Fiji

A powerful magnitude 7.9 quake has struck in the Pacific Ocean, 291 km (180 miles) from Ndoi island of Fiji, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The quake hit at a depth of 570km (354 miles), too deep to cause a tsunami. Its power approaches the strongest deep-focus (over 300km deep) quake on record, the magnitude 8.3 Okhotsk Sea quake of 2013.