An earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck north of the archipelago of Vanuatu in the South Pacific on Tuesday, the United States Geological Survey said.

There were no immediate reports of damages or casualties from the quake, which the agency said hit at a depth of 17 km (11 miles), about 475 km (295 miles) north of the island of Santo.

It had earlier placed the quake location east of the Solomon Islands provincial capital of Kira-Kira.