A massive earthquake in New Zealand
February 19th, 2009 - 2:09 pm ICT by Amrit Rashmisrisethi
On early Thursday morning, a massive quake measuring 6.8 richter scale occurred the remote Kermadec islands north of New Zealand, according to the US Geological Survey.
The quake struck on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 09:53:45 AM at epicenter local time and Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 21:53:45 UTC(Coordinated Universal Time)
The epicenter of the quake was about 260 kilometers northeast of Raoul Island and 60 kilometers deep.
The New Zealand ministry of civil defense said there was no threat of a tsunami. Earthquakes and volcanic activity are common in the area, which is part of the ‘Ring of Fire’ where the Pacific plate of the earth’s crust meets other continental plates.
The Kermadec islands, 1,000 kilometers north of New Zealand, are uninhabited apart from Raoul, where New Zealand’s Department of Conservation maintains a field station. Two years ago, a conservation worker on Raoul Island was killed by a mudflow sparked by a volcano that erupted during an earthquake swarm.
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Tags: civil defense, continental plates, coordinated universal time, department of conservation, earthquake swarm, earthquakes, epicenter, kermadec islands, kilometers, massive earthquake, mudflow, new zealand ministry, quake, raoul island, richter scale, ring of fire, thursday morning, us geological survey, volcanic activity, volcano
