An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 hit the Mariana Islands region Sunday, a week after a 7.2 tremor and a series of strong aftershocks, US geologists said.

The latest quake struck at 7:33pm (0933 GMT) at a depth of 49 kilometres (30 miles) and was centred 505 kilometres from the Northern Marianas capital Saipan, the US Geological Survey said.

There have been more than 10 quakes of magnitude 5.0 or stronger since the powerful quake on 14th August but all were in a remote area of the Pacific Ocean and well away from populated areas.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said there was no indication of any widespread tsunami threat.