Wednesday, May 3, 2006 Posted: 1656 GMT (0056 HKT)

-- Tsunami warnings were issued for Fiji and New Zealand early Thursday (local time) after a massive earthquake measuring about 8.0 in magnitude shook the southern Pacific Ocean.

The quake's epicenter was about 90 miles off the coast of Tonga, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

It struck Thursday at 4:26 a.m in Tonga (Wednesday at 1526 GMT).

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami wave could hit Suva, Fiji, as early as 5:13 a.m. local time (1713 GMT) before affecting New Zealand's coastal cities in the following hours.

The center stressed that "it is not known that a tsunami was generated" by the quake.

"This warning is based only on the earthquake evaluation," it said.



www.cnn.com