Today’s major earthquake and strong aftershock near Vanuatu follow a week of increased earthquake activity in that part of the South Pacific. Seven earthquakes of magnitude 4.3 or greater have struck the area since March 18th.
Magnitude 4 quakes struck the Santa Cruz Islands to the north of Vanuatu on March 18th and 25th. To the south, a magnitude 5.2 quake struck south-east of the Loyalty Islands on the 22nd.
A deep magnitude 4.8 quake struck near Vanuatu on March 20th. Another deep quake struck the area on March 24th, registering as magnitude 5.2. Today’s activity has consisted of a shallow magnitude 7.2 quake, followed by a shallow aftershock of magnitude 6.0, 28 minutes later at 1:08 p.m. New Zealand Standard Time.
Meanwhile, further analysis of the earthquake activity off the coast of Honshu, Japan has revealed that the magnitude 6.7 quake caused a small tsunami, several injuries and at least one death, as it damaged houses and infrastructure.
[Compiled from data supplied by the US Geological Survey and its contributing agencies.]