WELLINGTON - A POWERFUL undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 hit south of New Zealand on Sunday, triggering a tsunami alert in Australia but causing no damage, officials said.

Officials said the quake hit near the Auckland Islands at 6.23 pm (1.23pm Singapore time) and was centred 350km south-west of New Zealand and 1,400km south-east of the southern Australian state of Tasmania.

The sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands are uninhabited and lie about 500km south of the New Zealand South Island city of Invercargill.

'There's absolutely no threat from the earthquake itself,' a Geoscience Australia spokesman said.

The New Zealand Press Agency said some South Island residents felt the quake but that it was not strong.

'Just seemed to roll for a bit and rock for a bit,' a police spokeswoman in Invercargill said.

New Zealand officials said there was no indication of a serious tsunami risk.

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology initially issued a warning to people in coastal areas in Tasmania and southeastern mainland Australia saying the earthquake had the potential to generate a tsunami.

They later said that 'no significant threat exists to coastal communities of New South Wales.' -- AFP

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