Strong quake rocks the South Sandwich Islands, no damage

Strong quake rocks the South Sandwich Islands, no damage

2011-03-07 01:31:06 GMT+7 (ICT)

SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS (BNO NEWS) -- A strong earthquake struck near uninhabited islands of the British overseas territory of the South Sandwich Islands on early Sunday afternoon, seismologists said.

The 6.5-magnitude earthquake at 12.32 p.m. local time (1432 GMT) was centered about 33 kilometers (20 miles) north-northeast of Visokoi Island, a small uninhabited island in the Traversay Island group of the South Sandwich Islands, which are a British overseas territory. It struck about 84.2 kilometers (52 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The USGS said the earthquake, which also struck close to Zavodovski Island, was likely not felt by anyone as the area is uninhabited. No damage was expected.

The South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding region are part of the so-called 'Pacific Ring of Fire', an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent and large earthquakes. Volcanic eruptions also occur frequently in the region.

On December 26, 2004, one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded struck off the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia, which is also part of the 'Pacific Ring of Fire'. The 9.1-magnitude earthquake unleashed a deadly tsunami, striking scores of countries. In all, at least 227,898 people were killed.

Most recently, on October 25, a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck just off the Mentawai Islands off the western coast of Sumatra. As a result, a wall of water killed at least 435 people on the islands and impacted more than 20 villages.

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