Magnitude-6.6 earthquake hits South Pacific near Samoa

A magnitude-6.6 earthquake struck near the South Pacific island nation of Samoa on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of injury or damage.

The quake struck late morning local time 440 kilometers (273 miles) southwest of the capital Apia at a depth of 314 kilometers (195 miles), the agency said.

A staff member at the Samoa Observer news website said he had not felt a quake and was not aware of any reports of injury or damage.

The US Tsunami Warning System did not issue a tsunami warning

Samoa sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes and volcanoes are common.

In 2009, two large earthquakes struck midway between Samoa and American Samoa, a US territory. The earthquakes generated tsunami waves that killed at least 192 people in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga.