A 5.9-magnitude quake struck close to Tonga and Samoa early Sunday, seismologists said, the latest in a series of earthquakes to hit the South Pacific.
There was no tsunami alert after the tremor, which hit at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres (six miles), at 1941 GMT Saturday, the US Geological Survey said.
The epicentre was 344 kilometres northeast of Tonga's Neiafu and 260 kilometres southwest of Apia, in Samoa, USGS said.
More than 180 people died after a violent Pacific earthquake at the end of September caused a tsunami that crashed into Tonga, Samoa and American Samoa.
