A major 7.9 earthquake hit the sea area east of the Philippines on Friday and a tsunami warning was issued for the archipelago, Indonesia, Taiwan and Japan, US seismologists said.

The US Geological Survey said the quake had a depth of 34 kilometres (21 miles) and hit at 8:47pm (1247 GMT) some 139 kilometres east of the city of Sulangan, eastern Samar.

A tsunami warning was also issued for Papua New Guinea and Guam, and a tsunami watch was in effect for the Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands and Nauru, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin.

The warning center said any wave generated by the quake would be expected to hit Indonesia first.

– THE STAR