7.7 magnitude earthquake hits Nicobar Islands, India

Saturday, June 12, 2010

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported a 7.7 magnitude earthquake near Nicobar Islands, India. The earthquake took place on Sunday at 01:26:35 local time (Saturday 19:26:35 UTC).

The earthquake had a depth of 35 kilometers, and the epicenter was located 150 kilometers at the west of Mohean, Nicobar Islands, 440 kilometers at the northwest of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, 1155 kilometers at the southwest of Bangkok, Thailand and 2790 kilometers at the southeast of New Delhi, India. It lasted for about 10–20 seconds.

India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia areas are being watched by the NOAA's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. Earthquakes of this size have the potential to generate a destructive local tsunami and sometimes a destructive regional tsunami along coasts located usually no more than a thousand kilometers from the earthquake epicenter.

"Areas further from the epicenter could experience small sea level changes and strong or unusual coastal currents," the center reported.

They added, "It is not known that a tsunami was generated. This watch is based only on the earthquake evaluation. Authorities in the region should take appropriate action in response to this possibility. The watch will not expand to other areas of the Indian Ocean unless additional data are received to warrant such an expansion". Many residents in the area stayed out of their houses for over an hour, The Hindu reported.

Have an opinion on this story? Share it!

Sources

"Magnitude 7.7 - NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION" — USGS, June 12, 2010
"Message indian.2010.06.12.193459" — NOAA, June 12, 2010
"Strong 7.7 quake hits ocean west of Indian islands" — Reuters, June 12, 2010
"Strong 7.7 quake hits ocean west of Indian islands" — Vancouver Sun, June 12, 2010
"7.7-quake hits Nicobar; tremor felt in Chennai" — The Hindu, June 13, 2010

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.