The risk of tsunami waves across the South Pacific has passed and warnings have been downgraded following a magnitude-7.7 earthquake south-east of the Loyalty Islands in the French territory of New Caledonia.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) said the tsunami threat had largely passed on Friday afternoon.
Earlier it had warned about the possibility of waves ranging up to 1 metre above the tide level across 26 locations in the South Pacific.
After the earthquake at 1pm AEST on Friday afternoon, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued a marine tsunami warning for Lord Howe Island, off Australia's east coast.
The threat was cancelled shortly after 8pm AEST.
The BOM said there was no threat to mainland Australia.
Vanuatu retracted a warning to seek higher ground and said a destructive tsunami was no longer expected, according to the Vanuatu Meteorology & Geo-Hazard Department website.
New Caledonia lifted its tsunami alert later on Friday afternoon.
New Zealand also issued a national advisory notice following the earthquake.
"We expect New Zealand coastal areas to experience strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore," its national emergency management agency said.
A large part of the North Island coast and the west coast of the South Island were under threat, it added.
"People in or near the sea in [those] areas should move out of the water, off beaches and shore areas, and away from harbours, marinas, rivers and estuaries," the agency said.
"Strong currents and surges can injure and drown people. There is a danger to swimmers, surfers, people fishing, and anyone in or near the water close to shore."
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake hit at a depth of about 38 kilometres.
