A strong, deep earthquake struck the Loyalty Islands last night, New Zealand time.
Thursday 10th December 2009
A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.4 struck the Loyalty Islands at 10:46 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT) last night. The quake, located 120 km west of Ile Hunter (325 km east-south-east of Tadine) in New Caledonia’s Loyalty Islands, was 90 km deep according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a bulletin at 10:56 p.m. NZDT advising that a destructive widespread tsunami threat did not exist, based on historical data. They reported the quake as magnitude 6.5 at the shallower depth of 38 km.
Geoscience Australia reports the quake as magnitude 6.6 at a depth of 34 km. Their preliminary report on the undersea quake estimated that it would have been felt up to 800 km from the epicentre, and would have caused damage within a radius of 60 km.
[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.]