An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale jolted Tonga at 12:07:04 p.m. Friday (2307 GMT on Thursday), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 41.00 km, was initially determined to be at 15.0000 degrees south latitude and 174.8000 degrees west longitude.

The epicenter is some 355 km westsouth of Samoa's capital of Apia and 415 km north of Tonga's second largest town of Neiafu. There have been no reports of casualties or property damage so far.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet