NOUMEA, New Caledonia?A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck off New Caledonia on Sunday but was unlikely to trigger a tsunami, seismologists said.

The quake hit about 380 kilometers (235 miles) east of Noumea, capital of New Caledonia, at 2:12 p.m. (0312 GMT) at a depth of 35 kilometers, the United States Geological Survey said.

"It is too small and too far away from any population centers to cause any damage or tsunamis," Phil Cummins, seismologist with Geoscience Australia, told AFP.

The Asia-Pacific region has been rocked by a series of violent earthquakes in recent days, including a magnitude 8.0 undersea quake off the islands of Samoa on September 29 that triggered a deadly tsunami.

New Caledonia evacuated schools and ordered people away from the coast on October 8 after a major 7.8 earthquake prompted a tsunami warning across much of the South Pacific.