Thaindian News

ISANGEL, VANUATU ISLANDS (BNO NEWS) — Tsunami activity was observed on early Sunday morning after a major earthquake struck near the Vanuatu Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, seismologists and tsunami experts said. Tsunami warnings have since been canceled.

The 7.3-magnitude earthquake at 12.16 a.m. local time (1316 GMT Saturday) was centered approximately 145 kilometers (90 miles) west of Isangel, a city on the Vanuatu island of Tanna. It struck about 12.3 kilometers (7.6 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The USGS initially measured the strength of the earthquake at 7.6 on the Richter scale, but later revised it to 7.3. The agency estimated that approximately 108,000 people may have perceived moderate shaking, which could result in light damage.

After the earthquake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center immediately issued tsunami warnings for Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Fiji. They were later canceled, although the center said tsunami activity was observed in the region.

“Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicenter,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin, adding that a tsunami wave of at least 15 centimeters (0.5 feet) had been recorded near Vanuatu.

“It could have been bigger on the islands of Vanuatu where we have no instruments,” a scientist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. There was no immediate word from the islands itself to confirm or rule out damage or casualties.

Soon after the quake, two moderate aftershocks struck near the epicenter of the initial earthquake. Their magnitudes were 5.5 and 5.6 on the Richter scale.

Vanuatu is on the so-called ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent and large earthquakes. Volcanic eruptions also occur frequently in the region.

Most recently, on October 25, a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck just off the Mentawai Islands off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. As a result, a wall of water killed at least 435 people on the islands and impacted more than 20 villages.

And on December 26, 2004, one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded struck off the west coast of Sumatra. The 9.1-magnitude earthquake unleashed a deadly tsunami, striking scores of countries. In all, at least 227,898 people were killed.