Major Earthquake Magnitude 7.5 Loyalty Islands

The Pacific islands of Vanuatu and New Caledonia were shaken by a magnitude-7.5 earthquake, the largest temblor in the world so far this year, prompting a warning of a possible local tsunami.

The quake struck at 11:46 p.m. local time, about 89 kilometers (55 miles) south-southwest of Isangel in Vanuatu, and 174 kilometers northeast of Tadine in New Caledonia's Loyalty Islands, the U.S. Geological Survey said today in a preliminary report on its Web site.

The quake struck at a depth of 89 kilometers, less than two hours after a magnitude-6.4 temblor hit the same area. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of an ocean-wide tsunami, though a local event was possible.

Earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within 100 kilometers of the earthquake epicenter, the USGS said. Authorities in the region of the epicenter should be aware of this possibility and take appropriate action.

The earlier temblor struck at 10:13 p.m. local time about 97 kilometers southwest of Isangel and 167 kilometers north- northeast of Tadine.

Until today's event, the year's largest earthquake was a magnitude-7.4 temblor that hit Indonesia on Feb. 20, killing three people and seriously injuring 25, according to data on the USGS Web site.

_{©Bloomberg.com}



Magnitude 6.2, 5.9, 7.3, 5.2, 5.4, 5.8, 5.4, 6.0, 5.1
Date-Time
* Wednesday, April 09, 2008 at 12:46:13 UTC
* Wednesday, April 09, 2008 at 11:46:13 PM at epicenter
Location 20.058°S, 168.858°E
Depth 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
Region LOYALTY ISLANDS
Distances
70 km (45 miles) SW of Isangel, Tanna, Vanuatu
190 km (120 miles) NNE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
260 km (165 miles) SSE of PORT-VILA, Efate, Vanuatu
1815 km (1120 miles) ENE of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia