People across the South Pacific were told to avoid coastal areas due to the risk of tsunami waves following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake on Friday southeast of the Loyalty Islands in the French territory of New Caledonia.
Tsunami waves ranging from 0.3m to 1 metre above the tide level are possible for some coasts of Vanuatu, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said, waves below that level are set for 25 island groups including Tonga and Tuvalu.
A 22-centimetre tsunami had been observed near New Caledonia, the threat alert added.
Vanuatu warned citizens to seek higher ground, according to an official at the Vanuatu Meteorology & Geo-Hazards Department, who said the office had received calls from people on the southern islands who had felt shaking.
Australia's meteorology bureau issued a tsunami threat for Lord Howe Island off its east coast and warned the roughly 450 inhabitants to leave the water's edge due to waves and strong currents.
"We haven't moved to higher ground and we're probably not going to," said Damien Ball of the Thompsons General Store on Lord Howe Islands. "We've been through this numerous times before and nothing ever comes of it."
Similar warnings are in place for much of New Zealand's west coast.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake hit at a depth of about 38 km.
Israel bombarded northern Gaza overnight in some of the heaviest shelling in weeks, causing panic amongst residents and flattening neighbourhoods in an area from which the Israeli army had previously down its troops, residents said on Tuesday.
Russia launched a drone attack on Ukraine that injured seven people in the Black Sea port of Odesa, two of them children, and also targeted Kyiv, the capital, Ukraine's military officials said early on Tuesday.
A Delhi court on Tuesday extended the pre-trial detention of Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal until May 7 in a corruption case, the legal news website Live Law reported.
Taiwan's quake-hit eastern county of Hualien was rattled by more than 200 aftershocks late on Monday and early on Tuesday, but only minor damage was reported and no casualties and major chipmaker TSMC said it saw no impact on operations.
Two Malaysian navy helicopters collided in mid-air during a rehearsal for a naval parade on Tuesday, killing all 10 crew members aboard, the navy said in a statement.
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