Sydney, Jan 27 (IANS) A 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit near the Pacific island nation of Fiji just before 8:00 local time (2:30 am IST) on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said.

Shortly after, the area felt another smaller tremor, which registered 5.2 magnitude.

The earthquakes hit just south of the island between Fiji and Tonga, and were detected at a depth of over 500 km.

So far, there has been no tsunami alert issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

--IANS vin/