Mariana Islands Hit With 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake

August 14th, 2010 - 6:51 pm ICT by GD  

By Madhuri Dey
richterAug 14, (THAINDIAN NEWS) An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude in the Richter hit the Mariana Islands region of the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 2.9 miles. It occurred on Saturday, August 14, at 7:19 am, local time (2119 GMT) at a region that lies about 200 miles off the southern coast of Guam. Although in normal instances earthquake of such magnitudes bear the potential to cause havoc destruction and lead to tsunami, no such thing has been warned by the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center on Friday.

An earlier statement released by the United States Geological Survey held that the earthquake had its epicenter at a depth of 12.4 miles. However a later revised statement by the center held that the epicenter was only 2.9 miles under the earth crust and was of a magnitude of 7.2. It maintained that although no destructive tsunami threat has been issued, the earthquakes of this magnitude can have some effect along the coastal areas that lie near the epicenter. It maintained that effects can likely be felt within 100 km of the earthquake epicenter. The United States Geological Survey center maintained that the authorities in such regions should be aware of this possibility and take appropriate action.

However, the earthquake hardly created any destruction in the region. The residents even did not notice the earthquake and slept through it. That the U.S. territory, Guam had felt nothing of the earthquake was mentioned to media sources by Brandon Aydlett, a forecaster at the national Weather Service’s in the state. He maintained that the shallow earthquake was “completely unnoticed out here [Guam]“. The authorities in Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands also maintained that they have not received any reports of damage.

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