People dashed for the hills in Suva and businesses closed after a tsunami warning yesterday.

The warning was triggered by an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale.

The quake struck 284 kilometres off the coast of Nadi, 10 metres deep.

But waves rose just one centimetre along the  Suva coast.

The panic which followed the warning, however, left the capital city jammed with traffic as people rushed to higher grounds.

Minister for Mineral Resources, Faiyaz Koya, said this was an indication of how people needed to act in cases of tsunami warnings.

“People must act quickly in order to exercise precaution and as we saw in Suva many took heed of the warning as it was at short notice,” Mr Koya said.

He said the department would continue to interact with the relevant agencies/authorities to closely monitor the situation in the country.

After the cancellation of the Tsunami warning, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in their final statement said minor sea level fluctuations might occur in some coastal areas near the earthquake.

Meanwhile, staff of Smart Buy Fiji in Namaka Nadi were left in shock yesterday after they felt their work tables and chairs shaking.

Adiel Chandra said: “We felt the earth shake for some seconds and within that time we were only thinking if it was for real.”

He said this was their first experience of a quake.

He said there was  no damage or injuries.

The Sigatoka Town Council, chief executive, Tulsi Ram, said people took the warnings seriously.

A resident of Auckland Street in Verata in Nausori, Kala Wati, said she and her neighbours also felt the earthquake.

Power Outage

Large parts of Lautoka City continued work as normal. Except for a Power Cut.

Following the cancellation of the Tsunami warning, the whole of the western division was without power, in some places for almost two hours.

Offices that have air conditions saw its staff looking for cooler places outside as the city heat was around 34 degrees centigrade.

Fiji Electricity Authority staff when contacted said they could not comment on what the fault was but that power was being restored slowly.

FEA’s media liaison officer Karunesh Rao was overseas and could not be reached for comment.

Edited by Maraia Vula

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