A strong submarine earthquake struck near the island of Espiritu Santo this morning, New Zealand time. The earthquake and a moderately strong aftershock nearby are the latest events in a burst of activity which began near Vanuatu on July 30th.
The largest earthquake in the sequence was a magnitude 7.2 quake which struck 55 km ESE of Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu at a depth of 145 km at 5:09 NZST this morning, Thursday the 2nd of August 2007. A magnitude 5.1 aftershock struck 45 km ENE of Luganville at a depth of 149 km an hour later at 6:08 a.m.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a bulletin at 5:24 this morning advising that a tsunami was unlikely from the deep event. Early reports indicate that the main quake caused damage in Luganville, where it was strongly felt.
Three other earthquakes have struck at various locations in Vanuatu since early in the morning of July 30th. An unusually deep earthquake struck 405 km ENE of Luganville yesterday morning. The magnitude 4.6 earthquake at 7:39 a.m. NZST was 635 km deep.
A pair of shallower quakes struck further south near the capital Port Vila on the morning of July 30th. The magnitude 5.0 and 5.1 quakes were located 170 km SSE and 160 km south of Luganville respectively.
Geoscience Australia have reported this morning’s large earthquake at a similar position to that supplied by the US Geological Survey, but have placed it at half the depth (70 km) and a lower magnitude of 6.9.
The area experienced a magnitude 6.3 quake at a depth of 46 km on July 15th, during a burst of earthquake activity along the western boundary of the Pacific Ocean.
[Compiled from data supplied by the US Geological Survey and its contributing agencies.]