Moderate earthquake hits off Tonga

WELLINGTON, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale struck off the Pacific island nation of Tonga on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no reports of damages or casualties so far .

The quake, occurred at 08:41 a.m. Sunday Tonga local time (1941GMT Saturday), was centered 645 km northeast of Nuku'alofa, the capital of Tonga.

It was at a depth of 10 km.

No tsunami warning had been issued by the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

More than 184 people died after a violent Pacific earthquake on Sept. 30 caused a tsunami that struck Tonga, Samoa and American Samoa.