A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 strikes off the coast of the Vanuatu islands

Seismologists disagree on the size of the quake that hit off Vanuatu. Germany's GFZ geosciences centre puts it lower, at magnitude 6.16. The 6.9 figure is only a preliminary reading and could still be revised once more data comes in.

GFZ's lower estimate of magnitude 6.16 was published hours after the first 6.9 reading.

The quake struck at sea off the coast rather than directly beneath the islands.