Strong quake hits the Vanuatu Islands, no tsunami alert

[News_Editor]

Strong quake hits the Vanuatu Islands, no tsunami alert

2011-03-17 10:17:26 GMT+7 (ICT)

VANUATU (BNO NEWS) -- A strong earthquake struck off the Vanuatu Islands in the South Pacific Ocean on early Thursday afternoon, seismologists said, but no tsunami warnings were issued.

The 6.5-magnitude earthquake at 1.48 p.m. local time (0248 GMT) was centered about 77 kilometers (48 miles) northwest of Port Vila, situated on the island of Efate and capital of Vanuatu. It struck about 26.6 kilometers (16.5 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The agency estimated that several hundred people may have felt strong shaking, which could potentially result in light to moderate damage. Some 125,000 others may have felt light to moderate shaking.

In a bulletin, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said no tsunami warnings were issued. "No destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data," it said.

Vanuatu is on 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.

Most recently, on March 11, an enormous 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northeastern Japan, which is also on the Pacific Ring of Fire. The earthquake and a resulting tsunami left more than 10,000 people killed.

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

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

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