A strong quake struck the Kermadec Islands early this morning.
Monday 19th January 2009
A shallow magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 95 km south of Raoul Island (170 km north-north-east of L’Esperance Rock) at 3:12 this morning. The 10 km-deep quake was located 1005 km north-east of Auckland, too far away to be felt in mainland New Zealand.
Geoscience Australia report the quake as magnitude 6.4 at a depth of 35 km.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre did not issue a bulletin for the event.
The earthquake follows a shallow magnitude 6.7 earthquake south-east of the Loyalty Islands on Thursday evening. This quake has been followed by seven aftershocks with magnitudes between 4.8 and 5.4.
On December 9th a shallow magnitude 6.8 earthquake was recorded east of L’Esperance Rock in the southern Kermadecs.
[Compiled from data supplied by the U.S. Geological Survey and Geoscience Australia and their contributing agencies.]