An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale struck the area near the Pacific island of Vanuatu just before 5 am (local time) on Friday.

Radio New Zealand reported today, Thursday, that the quake struck the northern region of Vanuatu, noting that the epicenter was 80 km southwest of Port Olrey, and at a depth of ten km from the surface of the earth, according to the US Geological Survey.

The Republic of Vanuatu, an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean, is an archipelago of volcanic origin, located approximately 1,750 km northeast of Australia, 500 km northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, southeast of the Solomon Islands, and near New Guinea.