Tsunami warning after 7.8 quake off remote New Zealand islands

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A tsunami warning was issued Friday after a strong 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit near New Zealand's remote Kermadec Islands in the Pacific, seismic monitors said.

The quake, which followed earlier tremors of 7.4 and 6.9 in the same region, struck at 8:28am (1928 Thursday GMT) around 1,033 kilometres (640 miles) off the New Zealand coast, the US Geological Survey said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said hazardous waves were possible in New Zealand, Tonga, Niue, American Samoa, Samoa, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tokelau, and Wallis and Fortuna.

No damage or injuries were reported from the earlier quakes. -- Agence France-Presse