WELLINGTON, May 4 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand has been removed early Thursday morning from the list of countries under threat of a tsunami, after a huge earthquake occurred about one hour ago, according to the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

    A tsunami warning was initially issued for Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand but that has since been amended.

    It is still not known if a tsunami has been generated, but warnings are still in place for Tonga, Niue, American Samoa, Samoa,Wallis Futuna and Fiji.

    In New Zealand, Gisborne civil defense authorities told local media that "civil defense authorities had been put on high alert",but he added that "none of the (ocean) monitoring buoys have reported anything significant."

    "There were initial fears that any tsunami created by the quake would strike Gisborne after 6 am local time," said NZTV.

    It said Gisborne civil defense authorities are still "making preparations for a possible tsunami strike."

    A strong earthquake measuring 8.0 has rocked the Pacific island nation of Tonga, reports said.

    The US Geological Survey said the quake was centered about 155 km south of the island of Neiafu and north-east of the capital, Nuku'alofa.

    It struck at 0426 local time (1526 GMT), the USGS said. Enditem