Quake triggers Pacific tsunami on disaster anniversary
AUSTRALIA: A powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the
western Pacific nation of Vanuatu on Sunday, triggering a small tsunami
exactly six years after giant waves killed 220,000 people around the
Indian Ocean.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the shallow
quake generated a tsunami, but it cancelled a regional warning after the
wave measured only 15 centimetres (six inches) higher than normal in
Vanuatu.
"Sea level readings confirm that a tsunami was generated," the centre
said in its bulletin. "This tsunami may have been destructive along
coastlines of the region near the earthquake epicentre," it said, but
cancelled the warning when no destructive wave hit.
The quake struck at 12:16 am on Sunday (1316 GMT Saturday), and the
initial tsunami warning covered Vanuatu, Fiji and the French Pacific
territory of New Caledonia. There were no reports of damage or
casualties.
Jackie Philip, a member of staff at the Melanesian Port Vila Hotel in
the Vanuatu capital, said the hotel was busy with late-night Christmas
revellers when the quake struck. "Some of us, we ran outside and stood
and watched the sea for a few minutes but nothing happened. There is no
damage and no injuries," he said, adding that no tsunami warning had
been given on local radio.
A receptionist at Port Vila's Grand Hotel called it a "small"
earthquake, adding that calls to the meteorological office went
unanswered. Staff at the nearby Island Magic Hotel also said there had
been no local tsunami warning. "We haven't had any notification of a
tsunami," a worker told AFP. "We definitely felt the earthquake but we
are notified if there's actually a tsunami." Meteorological and disaster
management officials were not available for comment when contacted by
AFP.
The US Geological Survey said the quake was just 12.3 kilometres (7.6
miles) deep, and its epicentre was 145 kilometres (90 miles) west of
Isangel, on the island of Tanna - home to an active volcano - in the
Vanuatu archipelago. The USGS revised its initial readings for the
magnitude and distances involved, after first recording the quake at
7.6.
Sydney, Sunday, AFP |