Powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake strikes near the vanuatu islands

[Megan]

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — Major 7.5-magnitude earthquake strikes near the Vanuatu Islands.

http://wireupdate.com/wires/5682/pow...nuatu-islands/

[Megan]

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issues tsunami warning for the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

http://wireupdate.com/wires/5683/tsu...new-caledonia/

[Megan]

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- A major earthquake struck off the Vanuatu Islands on early Friday, seismologists said, prompting tsunami warnings for nearby coasts.

The 7.4-magnitude earthquake at 4.14 a.m. local time (1714 UTC Thursday) was centered about 214 kilometers (133 miles) north-northwest of Santo, Vanuatu. It struck about 36.1 kilometers (22.4 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which initially measured the strength of the earthquake at 7.6, immediately issued a tsunami warning for the Solomon Islands, the Vanuatu Islands, and New Caledonia.

"It is not known that a tsunami was generated," the center said in its warning. "This warning is based only on the earthquake evaluation. An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines in the region near the epicenter within minutes to hours."

http://wireupdate.com/wires/5684/tsu...e-off-vanuatu/

[Megan]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquak...s2010wubj.html

[Megan]

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- Australia says no tsunami threat to Australia after earthquake off the Vanuatu Islands.

[yogi3939]

And the other shoe has dropped.

MAP 7.2 2010/05/27 17:14:48 -13.710 166.507 36.1 VANUATU





Earthquake Details


Magnitude
7.2

Date-Time

• Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 17:14:48 UTC
• Friday, May 28, 2010 at 04:14:48 AM at epicenter
• Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location
13.710°S, 166.507°E

Depth
36.1 km (22.4 miles)

Region
VANUATU

Distances
215 km (135 miles) NNW of Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu

340 km (210 miles) SSE of Lata, Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Isl.
485 km (300 miles) NNW of PORT-VILA, Efate, Vanuatu
2070 km (1290 miles) NE of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia

Location Uncertainty
horizontal +/- 8.6 km (5.3 miles); depth +/- 21.2 km (13.2 miles)

Parameters
NST= 69, Nph= 69, Dmin=857.7 km, Rmss=1.26 sec, Gp= 29°,

M-type=teleseismic moment magnitude (Mw), Version=8

Source

• USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID
us2010wubj

[Megan]

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- A major earthquake struck off the Vanuatu Islands on early Friday, seismologists said, prompting tsunami warnings for nearby coasts.

The 7.2-magnitude earthquake at 4.14 a.m. local time (1714 UTC Thursday) was centered about 215 kilometers (135 miles) north-northwest of Luganville, a city on the island of Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu. It struck about 36.1 kilometers (22.4 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which initially measured the strength of the earthquake at 7.6, immediately issued a tsunami warning for the Solomon Islands, the Vanuatu Islands, and New Caledonia.

"It is not known that a tsunami was generated," the center said in its warning. "This warning is based only on the earthquake evaluation. An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines in the region near the epicenter within minutes to hours."

The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre said there was no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland or islands.

Based on the initial magnitude of 7.6, the European Union Joint Research Centre estimated that the maximum tsunami wave height would likely be 0.85 meter.

http://wireupdate.com/wires/5687/tsu...atu-islands-2/

[Caver]

Now USGS has downgraded to a 7.2

Shucks, that's still strong enough to quiver my jello.

Yogi, your zipper posts of the past few months just keep rattling around in me noggin.