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WASHINGTON (AFX) - A strong earthquake of 6.3 magnitude jolted the island of Hawaii awake Sunday sparking fears of a tsunami, although officials said none was expected.
The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at 7:07 am (1707 GMT) near the island of Hawaii and was followed by strong aftershock of 5.8 magnitude.
'We have had some scattered reports of power outages on the big island of Hawaii and Oahu and some reports of damage and some landslides on the big island of Hawaii,' said Don Blakeman, a USGS seismologist.
'They are consistent with what I would expect for an earthquake of this magnitude, there would be some damage but I wouldn't expect anything catastrophic. But you never know about these things,' he said.
Stewart Koyangi at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said 'no tsunami is expected,' from this quake, but that some areas had experienced strong shaking.
US media reported extensive disruptions from the quake, including an island-wide blackout on the island of Oahu and closed airports.
'Because of the island-wide blackout things, have come to a standstill,' Mahea Richardson, a Hawaii television reporter, told CNN.
Richardson said that the hospital in Kona, on the big island, was being evacuated due to damage and that the airport there was closed.
CNN reported that phone service had also been disrupted in some areas.
The epicenter was located some 153 miles from the capital of Honolulu. newsdesk@afxnews.com afp/hjp COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2006. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited