A magnitude eight earthquake struck deep beneath the Sea of Okhotsk in the North Pacific Ocean this evening.
Friday, 24th May 2013
A magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck beneath the Sea of Okhotsk 360 km west-south-west of Esso, Russia (2375 km north-north-east of Tokyo , Japan) at 5:45 this evening, New Zealand time. The U.S. Geological Survey reports the quake was 600 km deep.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre reported the quake as magnitude 8.2 at a depth of 620 km. The quake’s depth meant that a destructive tsunami was not generated.
Geoscience Australia reports the quake as magnitude 8.2 at a depth of 620 km. It estimates that the quake would have caused damage within 330 km of the epicentre, which includes part of the Kamchatka Peninsula, and would have been felt up to 4,000 km away.
Great quake triggers NZ seismograph network
[click for larger image] Because of the quake’s power and great distance from New Zealand, the significant waves of energy from the earthquake reached all of GeoNet’s New Zealand seismographs at about the same time.
The Japan Meteorological Agency which manages tsunami risk for Japan did not issue a bulletin for this event.
[Compiled from data supplied by the U.S. Geological Survey and its contributing agencies, the U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, Geoscience Australia, and the Japan Meteorological Agency.]