An Australian woman has told of being crowded onto the roof of a Fijian hotel after three earthquakes in Vanuatu triggered tsunami warnings across the South Pacific.
Panicked residents of the Pacific islands fled to higher ground upon hearing the news after last week's tsunami in Samoa left 184 people dead and thousands more injured.
Sydney woman Claire McShane had been metres from the shoreline in Fiji with her husband and young children when she heard about the earthquake.
She said around 2000 guests at the Sheraton Hotel were led onto the roof of the building in anticipation of a tsunami after three quakes ranging from 7.3 to 7.8 in magnitude hit Vanuatu.
"It was absolutely terrifying, and we were trying to keep the children calm, and some of the little ones were quite hysterical," she said.
"There were a lot of Fijian staff and the whole time they were very good to communicating what was happening."
Mrs McShane said the hotel guests were up on the roof for more than an hour waiting for word of the tsunami.
"Men were tearing cardboard boxes that had been holding tools to shield from the hot midday sun," she said.
"Amazingly the Fijian staff that had gathered on the roof began singing — it was very peaceful despite the fear."
Mrs McShane said she received word via mobile phone that the tsunami alert had been cancelled.
"I burst into tears with relief. I told my husband who I hugged and nearly strangled the kids with happiness," she said.
"I told the surrounding people and they all cheered with relief."
The quakes only generated a small tsunami of around 10cm in height, and experts said serious damage was unlikely.
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