Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Strong earthquake strikes off Vanuatu's coast (Depth 147 km, local time: 08:52)

A major 7.3-magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Vanuatu, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The quake hit at a depth of 131km at about 9am on Wednesday (22:00 GMT Tuesday), with its epicentre located 34km northeast of the South Pacific nation's idyllic Port Olry, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre did not issue a tsunami warning following the quake.

Tarcisius Alguet, who runs the the Little Paradise Bungalows in Port Olry, told Al Jazeera that the earthquake seemed to last for about three minutes.

"First there was noise, and then the trees started to shake," Alguet said. "Then, the ground started to move slowly."

Alguet said he was not aware of any damage to buildings in Port Olry, located on the coast of Espiritu Santo island in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu.

Another hotel owner on the island said the earthquake was "a big one" but the shaking only lasted seconds.

"A few broken glasses, but no one hurt as far as I know," they said.

A resident in the capital Port Vila, some 335km away, said the earthquake had also been felt there, but that there was no apparent damage.

The South Pacific island was jolted by a 6.8-magnitude tremor in late January and another of 6.5 in February, but there were no reports of damage.

Wednesday's earthquake was the strongest recorded in the country since August 2010.

Vanuatu is in the region of the Pacific called the "Ring of Fire" known for dramatic earthquakes and volcanoes.
[Additional reporting by Mark Worley and Andrew Thomas]
Source: Al Jazeera

21/10/15
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Magnitude    Mw 7.1
Region    VANUATU
Date time    2015-10-20 21:52:03.4 UTC
Location    14.88 S ; 167.33 E
Depth    147 km
Distances :

  •    333 km N of Port-Vila, Vanuatu / pop: 35,901 / local time: 08:52:03.4 2015-10-21
  • 74 km N of Luganville / pop: 13,397 / local time: 08:52:00.0 2015-10-21
  • 36 km NE of Port-Olry, Vanuatu / pop: 1,951 / local time: 08:52:03.4 2015-10-21 
 emsc-csem.org
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1 comment:

  1. Séisme de magnitude 7,3 au large du Vanuatu...

    Un séisme de magnitude 7,3 s'est produit mercredi au large de l'archipel du Vanuatu, dans l'océan Pacifique, mais aucune menace de tsunami n'a été détectée et aucun dégât signalé, ont annoncé l'Institut américain de géologie (USGS) et des sismologues.

    L'épicentre du séisme a été localisé à une profondeur de 131 km et à 335 km de la capitale Port Vila, a précisé l'USGS.

    "Sur la base de toutes les données disponibles, aucun tsunami (...) n'est attendu", a indiqué pour sa part le centre d'alerte spécialisé du Pacifique.

    Le séisme "a sûrement été ressenti, mais il est peu probable qu'il ait créé des dégâts", a déclaré le sismologue Dan Jackson à l'AFP.

    Il a expliqué que la région de Vanuatu avait connu 27 tremblements de terre dépassant la magnitude 7 ces 20 dernières années.

    "Des séismes de ce genre sont communs par là-bas. La région autour de Vanuatu et des îles Salomon est la plus sismique de la planète", selon M. Jackson.

    L'archipel aux 80 îles, l'un des pays les plus pauvres de la planète, est situé sur la "ceinture de feu" du Pacifique, où la collision de plaques tectoniques cause de fréquents séismes et une importante activité volcanique.
    http://www.rtbf.be/info/monde/detail_seisme-de-magnitude-7-3-au-large-du-vanuatu?id=9114043

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