A strong, deep, undersea earthquake struck the Banda Sea north-east of East Timor early this morning.
Sunday 25th October 2009
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the Banda Sea north-east of East Timor at 3:41 a.m. New Zealand Daylight Time. The quake, which was 138 km deep, was located 230 km north-north-west of Saumiaki in the Tanimbar Islands, 365 km south-east of Ambon in The Moluccas (700 km north of Darwin).
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a bulletin at 3:51 a.m. New Zealand time, reporting that a destructive tsunami was not expected, based on historical data and the depth of the earthquake.
Geoscience Australia estimates that the quake would have caused damage up to 100 km from the epicentre, and would have been felt up to 1200 km away.
[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, and Geoscience Australia.]