Vanuatu | A strong 6.5 magnitude earthquake has struck off the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu

A strong 6.5 magnitude earthquake has struck off the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, the US Geological Survey says, but no tsunami warning has been issued.

The shallow quake hit 77 kilometres north-west of the nation's capital Port Vila at 1.48pm (1.48pm AEDT) at a depth of 26.6 kilometres, the USGS said.

There were no immediate reports of damage.

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Vanuatu is on the Pacific "Ring of Fire",’ which on Friday saw a 9.0 magnitude quake and tsunami strike off the coast of Japan, causing devastation.

Earlier today a 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck the central region of Chile.

There was no immediate report of injuries, local media reported.

Chileans are still jittery after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the country in February 2010. That quake and subsequent tsunami killed 524 people.

Magnitude	6.3
Date-Time	Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 02:47:59 UTC Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 01:47:59 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	17.339°S, 167.743°E
Depth	15.2 km (9.4 miles)
Region	VANUATU
Distances	77 km (47 miles) WNW of PORT-VILA, Efate, Vanuatu 210 km (130 miles) SSE of Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu 293 km (182 miles) NW of Isangel, Tanna, Vanuatu 1880 km (1168 miles) NE of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 15.3 km (9.5 miles); depth +/- 0.5 km (0.3 miles)
Parameters	NST=235, Nph=247, Dmin=>999 km, Rmss=1.17 sec, Gp= 25°, M-type=centroid moment magnitude (Mw), Version=A
Source	USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	usc00024wv