The natural phenomenon occurred at 11.08pm last night. It hit 84km north of Nuku`alofa, the capital of Tonga. It is currently unclear if there are any casualties or if there is any damage.
However, according to the Richter scale, an earthquake with a magnitude between 6.1 and 6.9 “may cause a lot of damage in very populated areas”.
The USGS website also warns Tonga is vulnerable to damage from an earthquake.
Their website states: “Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though resistant structures exist.
“The predominant vulnerable building types are informal (metal, timber, GI etc.) and unknown/miscellaneous types construction.”
The small island was last hit by an earthquake, which was of the same magnitude, in October.
Tonga sits on the Ring of Fire, a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where the majority of earthquakes across the world occur.
About 70 percent of the world’s volcanos are also located in the Ring of Fire.
The infamous area extends from New Zealand in the West, to the Philippines, up around Russia and towards the US, where it goes through Alaska and the west coast into South America.
More to follow…