Powerful earthquake shakes Tonga

ISTANBUL

A powerful earthquake hit the Pacific island nation of Tonga on Friday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The USGS said in a brief statement that an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter Scale with a depth of 24.8 kilometers (15.4 miles) hit the island nation at around 23:48 local time (1048GMT Friday).

The earthquake was felt in Neiafu, the second-largest town in Tonga. However, no damage or causality was reported at the time this report was filed.

Earlier in January, a massive volcanic eruption triggered a tsunami that hit most parts of the west side of Tonga’s main Tongatapu island.

The eruption was far more powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of World War II, the US space agency NASA had said.