Updated 1:27 p.m. ET
A strong earthquake struck the Tonga region of the South Pacific early this morning at 4:26 local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The most recent bulletin put the quake's magnitude at 7.8. It had ranged as high as 8.1 in earlier reports.
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The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for Fiji and New Zealand, but initial reports indicate that no tsunami was generated by the quake.
Not all earthquakes on the seafloor cause tsunamis. To make a wave, a fault must rupture in a way that causes the seafloor to lift up and act as a paddle. This event originated some 20 miles below the seafloor and did not appear to be the type that would create a significant tsunami, scientists said.
The 7.8-rating is still preliminary and could be revised later in the day.
The Kingdom of Tonga is an archipelago nation located in the South Pacific Ocean, about a third of the way between New Zealand and Hawaii, east of Fiji. Tonga sits atop one of the most earthquake-prone regions in the world, where the Pacific Plate and Australia-India plate come together.
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the region on March 9, 1994.
