Vanuatu earthquake: Tsunami alert after 7.2 magnitude quake rocks Ring of Fire island

Port-Olry in Vanuatu was hit by a massive 7.2 magnitude earthquake in the Ring of Fire region which is regularly rocked by huge tremors and a tsunami warning has been issued

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Vanuatu: Earthquake hits Port-Olry

A tsunami warning has been issued after a massive 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook the island of Vanuatu in the Ring of Fire.

The tremor struck 24 km west of Port-Olry, Vanuatu, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said on Sunday.

Vanuatu is home to approximately 280,000 people and is prone to natural disasters, with half a dozen active volcanoes as well as regular cyclones and earthquakes.

It sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes and volcanoes are common.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a tsunami warning for coasts within 300 km of the epicenter.

He then withdrew the warning a few hours later, saying the threat had passed.

The island of Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu (

Picture:

Getty)

The Ring of Fire is a region of the Pacific that is home to more than 450 volcanoes, including three of the four most active volcanoes in the world: Mount St. Helens in the United States, Mount Fuji in Japan, and Mount Pinatubo in the United States. Philippines.

It is also sometimes called the Circum-Pacific Belt.

About 90% of the world's earthquakes occur in the Ring of Fire and 80% of the world's largest tremors.

The 40,000 kilometer horseshoe-shaped ring connects New Zealand to Chile, crossing the coasts of Asia and the Americas.