Two earthquakes struck the South Pacific this morning, one near Fiji the other near the Kermadec Islands.
A very deep magnitude 6.4 quake struck 275 km east-north-east of Suva, Fiji at 8:39 a.m. on the morning of Saturday 19th of April 2008 New Zealand time. The quake was 575 km deep.
Thirty-two minutes later, at 9:11 a.m., a magnitude 5.4 quake struck 230 km north-east of Raoul Island in the Kermadecs. The quake was shallow at 35 km. On the afternoon of Thursday April 17th a magnitude 4.7 quake struck 575 km north of Raoul Island at a depth of 500 km.
Earthquakes have been recorded in other parts of the South Pacific this week. A shallow magnitude 6.3 quake struck near Tonga on Wednesday. This quake was preceded by a shallow magnitude 5.7 quake nearby.
Four quakes with magnitudes between 4.9 and 5.3 have been recorded near Vanuatu, and another three quakes with magnitudes between 4.7 and 4.8 near Fiji. Earthquake activity near the Loyalty Islands has eased, with only one event of magnitude 5.0 reported on Sunday.
[Compiled from data supplied by the U.S. Geological Survey and its contributing agencies.]