.gif)
A strong 6.0 magnitude quake hit off the Pacific island nations of Tonga and Samoa on Sunday but there was no tsunami alert, seismologists said.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at 4:39 pm (0339 GMT) around 237 kilometres (147 miles) southwest of the Samoan capital Apia at a depth of 41 kilometres.
Nine people died in September when a tsunami hit the northern Tongan island of Niuatoputapu following an 8.0-magnitude earthquake. The tsunami also killed 143 people in Samoa and another 34 in neighbouring American Samoa.
Earthquakes are common on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where continental plates in the Earth's crust meet.
