Moderate 5.8 quake shakes Tonga

NUKU'ALOFA: A moderate 5.8 quake hit off Tonga Sunday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, but there were no immediate reports of damage in the South Pacific island nation.

The quake struck at 2:27 am (1327 GMT Saturday) 155 kilometres (95 miles) east-northeast of the capital Nuku'Alofa at a relatively shallow depth of 9.5 kilometres, the USGS said.

Tonga, almost 2,000 kilometres northeast of New Zealand, lies on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", where continental plates collide causing frequent volcanic and seismic activity.

Nine people died in Tonga in an earthquake-triggered tsunami in October 2009 that also killed 143 people in Samoa.