Great Earthquakes In Diverse Places
Powerful earthquake strikes off the Solomon Islands
Saturday, June 26th, 2010 at 6:09 am
By Monica Lawrence
NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — A powerful earthquake struck off the island of
Makira in the Solomon Islands on Saturday afternoon, seismologists
said, but no tsunami warnings were issued.
The 6.9-magnitude earthquake at 4.30 p.m. local time (0530 GMT) was
centered approximately 55 kilometers (35 miles) west-southwest of
Kirakira, the largest and capital city of Makira island. It struck
about 35 kilometers (21.7 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake,
according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially measured the strength of
the earthquake at 7.1 on the Richter scale.
No tsunami watches or warnings were issued following the earthquake.
“No destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical
earthquake and tsunami data,” a bulletin from the agency read.
It was not immediately clear if the earthquake caused any damage or
casualties. “Overall, the population in this region resides in
structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though some
resistant structures exist,” an analysis from the USGS read.
The agency estimated that approximately 17,000 people perceived ‘very
strong’ shaking which could result in moderate to heavy damage. Some
13,000 others were estimated to have perceived ‘strong’ shaking, which
could result in light to moderate damage.
Approximately 387,000 others perceived weak to moderate shaking, the
agency estimated.
On April 21, 1977, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck about 94
kilometers (58.4 miles) northwest of Saturday’s epicenter, killing at
least 18 people.