Large Earthquake near Guam sways buildings
Pastor Dale Morgan
Large Earthquake near Guam sways buildings*
GUAM - A strong earthquake swayed buildings on the Pacific island of
Guam on Sunday but there were no immediate reports of damage and no
tsunami alert was issued.
The magnitude 7.1 quake occurred at 12.09 p.m. local time near the U.S.
territory, with its epicentre at a depth of 30 km, Japan's
Meteorological Agency said on its Web site .
Some residents said high-rise blocks swayed and goods fell off
supermarket shelves. But two hours after the quake, local television had
reported no damage to buildings on Guam, an island east of the
Philippines which is home to a major U.S. military base.
"We felt it. It was swinging back and forth for a minute or two," said
Patrick Chan, a Guam-based meteorologist at the U.S. National Weather
Service. "It's not expected to cause a tsunami." The Pacific Tsunami
Warning Center, based in Hawaii, said in a statement that there was "no
destructive widespread tsunami threat". Neither Guam nor the Philippines
issued tsunami warnings.
The U.S. Geological Survey also recorded a quake in the same area, which
it said on its Web site was of magnitude 6.8 and centred about 345 km
south-southeast of Guam.