Powerful 7.3 quake hits off Vanuatu, no tsunami threat

SYDNEY, Australia – A powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, October 21, but no tsunami threat was detected and no damage reported, seismologists said.

The quake hit at a depth of 131 kilometers (81 miles) about 335 km from the capital Port Vila, the United States Geological Survey said.

“Based on all available data a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Government agency Geoscience Australia said the general threshold for an undersea earthquake that could potentially generate a tsunami was a magnitude above 6.5 and a depth below 100 kilometers.

“It was probably felt but unlikely to cause any damage,” seismologist Dan Jackson told Agence France-Presse, adding that there had been 27 tremors above magnitude 7.0 around Vanuatu over the past 20 years.

“Quakes like this are a common occurrence over there. The region around Vanuatu and the Solomon islands is the most seismic in the world.” 

Vanuatu is part of the “Ring of Fire”, a zone of tectonic activity around the Pacific that is subject to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

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. – Rappler.com