English Wikinews RSS feed.

Vanuatu hit by 7.2 magnitude earthquake

Thu, 27 May 2010 18:00:44 GMT

Disasters and accidents

More articles about disasters and accidents on Wikinews:

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Shakemap of the earthquake.
Image: United States Geological Survey.

Vanuatu has been hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake at 04:14 local time on Friday (17:14 UTC on Thursday). The epicenter was located 215 kilometers to the northwest of Luganville, Espíritu Santo, Vanuatu; 340 kilometers to the southeast of Lata, Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands; 485 kilometers to the northwest of Port-Vila, Vanuatu; and 2,070 kilometers to the northeast of Brisbane, Australia.

The earthquake had a depth of 36.1 kilometers, approximately 22.4 miles. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued a tsunami warning for Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia. They said on the report: "It is not known that a tsunami was generated. This warning is based only on the earthquake evaluation. An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines in the region near the epicenter within minutes to hours." The Vanuatu government Meteorological Office reported infrastructure cracks, and power outages, but does not foresee major damage. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, CNN reported. USGS initially reported the earthquake as 7.6, but they later downgraded it. Magnitude 5.7, 5.2 and 6.4 aftershocks were reported later by USGS.

The tsunami warning was cancelled an hour after it was issued. Geophysicist Barry Hershorn said to The Huffington Post that they had confirmed there was no tsunami from ocean buoys and from coastal sea level gauges in Vanuatu. The Vanuatu goverment said they were pleased the tsunami alert had been canceled. "We haven't received any reports yet about earthquake damage," said Salesa Kaniaha, Meteorological Office acting director of Vanuatu. "The very close proximity [of the epicenter] to Espíritu Santo [the closest island] meant there was nothing much we could do to alert residents to any danger," he added.

Vanuatu is an insular country located in southern Pacific Ocean, located 1,750 kilometers to the east of Australia.

Have an opinion on this story? Post it!

Sources [edit]

"Magnitude 7.2 - VANUATU" — USGS, May 27, 2010
"NOAA Tsunami Warning" — NOAA, May 27, 2010
"Magnitude 5.7" — USGS, May 27, 2010
"Magnitude 5.2 - VANUATU" — USGS, May 27, 2010
"Magnitude 6.4 - VANUATU" — USGS, May 27, 2010
"Magnitude 7.2 quake strikes off Vanuatu" — CNN, May 27, 2010
Reuters. "Powerful 7.3 earthquake rattles Vanuatu" — AlertNet, May 27, 2010
"Un terremoto de 7,6 grados frente a Vanuatu activa la alerta de tsunami en el Pacífico" — Europa Press, May 27, 2010 (Spanish)
"South Pacific Tsunami Warning Canceled After Vanuatu Earthquake" — The Huffington Post, May 27, 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.

Strong earthquakes in Indian and Pacific Oceans

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:27:42 GMT

Friday, January 23, 2009

A 6.0 quake occurred between the islands of New Britain and New Guinea
Image: USGS.

Yesterday an earthquake of magnitude 6.2 occurred in Indonesia's Banda Sea, and two quakes of similar strengths took place in the Pacific Ocean. As of 9 am today, no damage has been reported. These are the strongest earthquakes since Monday.

The Indonesian earthquake was in the sparse island group of Maluku, north of Australia, at 2016 UTC Thursday (5.46 am Friday, Darwin time). The Maluku Islands are in the earthquake-prone Banda Sea between New Guinea and Sulawesi. The Indonesian quake was felt in Darwin, northern Australia, 600 km (400 miles) south of the epicentre.

The Pacific quakes took place earlier in the day. The first struck at 1340 UTC in Papua New Guinea, close to the populous island of New Britain, with a magnitude of 6.0. The other was at 1708 UTC, 110 km (70 miles) from the remote Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, with a magnitude 6.3.

As recently as January 5, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake on the island of New Guinea (eastern Indonesia) killed one person and caused many serious injuries. Indonesia began to operate a tsunami early warning system in November, and no warnings were issued following yesterday's earthquakes.

Sources [edit]

"Quake shakes Top End. Did you feel it?" — Northern Territory News, January 23, 2009
"Magnitude 6.2 - KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA 2009 January 22 20:16:34 UTC" — USGS,
"Magnitude 6.3 - SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS 2009 January 21 17:08:42 UTC" — USGS,
"Magnitude 6.0 - NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA 2009 January 22 13:40:26 UTC" — USGS,

References and external links

"Strong quake displaces thousands, damages hundreds buildings in Papua" — Xinhua, January 5, 2009
United States Geological Survey. "Latest Earthquakes M5.0+ in the World - Past 7 days" —
Agence-France Presse. "Indonesia launches tsunami early warning system" — Google News, November 11, 2008

Share this:

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

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.

Wikinews Shorts: January 21, 2009

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:04:36 GMT

A compilation of brief news reports for Wednesday, January 21, 2009 .

1 Obama requests halt to Guantanamo trials
2 New York Jets hire new head coach
3 Two strong earthquakes strike the South Pacific

Contribute to Wikinews by expanding these briefs or add a new one.

Obama requests halt to Guantanamo trials [edit]

A Guantanamo Bay court room
Image: Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Thompson.

One of President Barack Obama's first acts of office was to request a suspension of the military commission hearings in Guantanamo Bay, a United States base on the island of Cuba.

The legal motion, signed last night by Obama and the US Department of Defense, is due to be heard today by two judges chairing the commissions. It requests that the hearings be halted until May 20.

The military commissions were created by the Bush administration, and are similar to military trials of alleged criminals. The accused were captured outside the United States, including in Afghanistan, on suspicion of involvement in terrorist or insurgent acts. Hundreds of enemy combatants have been imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay since the detention center opened 2002.

Related news

"Obama will close Guantanamo Bay in his first week say advisers" — Wikinews, January 13, 2009
"U.S. Supreme Court requests reconsideration of habeas petitions of Gitmo captives" — Wikinews, December 15, 2008

Sources

"Obama acts on Guantanamo trials" — BBC News Online, January 21, 2009
Agence-France Presse. "Obama seeks suspension of Guantanamo trials" — Google News, January 21, 2009

New York Jets hire new head coach [edit]

Giants Stadium is home of the Jets and the Giants
Image: Doc Searls.

On Monday, the New York Jets hired Raven's defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan, to be their new head coach. No further details were included in Monday's announcement. The Jets failed to make the 2008–09 playoffs in American football's National Football League (NFL).

Ravens linebacker, Bart Scott, stated "I think it's a gain for them and a loss for us, but it's well-deserved, it was a long time coming."

Coming into New York, Rex is faced with his first challenge: the future of quarterback Brett Favre. Favre has already decided to take a few weeks to decide whether or not to stay in the NFL for the upcoming season.

Related news

"Steelers, Cardinals win championship games to advance to Super Bowl XLIII" — Wikinews, January 19, 2009

Sources

Associated Press. "Jets hire Ravens defensive coordinator Ryan to replace Mangini" — National Football League, January 19, 2009
Simon Evans and John O'Brien, Reuters. "Jets appoint Rex Ryan as new head coach" — guardian.co.uk, January 19, 2009

Two strong earthquakes strike the South Pacific [edit]

Raoul Island
Image: NASA/JSC.

On Monday, two earthquakes of magnitude greater than 6.0 struck the South Pacific. These are the strongest earthquakes since the magnitude 7.4 quake in the North Pacific last Thursday. No damage was reported.

First, an earthquake of 6.4 magnitude struck the Kermadec Islands, about 1000 kilometres (600 miles) north east of New Zealand's North Island. The quake hit at 2.11 am local time, (1411 UTC Sunday), 95 km south of Raoul Island. Later, at 0335 UTC (2.35 pm New Caledonia time) a magnitude 6.5 quake occurred 120 km (75 miles) south east of Hunter Island in the Loyalty Islands, part of the French territory of New Caledonia. After the second quake, the United States Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a bulletin saying that "earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within a hundred kilometers of the earthquake epicenter." Both of the quakes began just 10 km below the surface.

Hunter Island (île Hunter in French) is an uninhabited island claimed by Vanuatu and France. It is about 600 km east of Nouméa, the New Caledonia capital, and 1600 km north of New Zealand. A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hit 145 km west of the island only last Thursday.

The Kermadec Islands, owned by New Zealand, are largely uninhabited, apart from Department of Conservation staff and volunteers. This is the fifth earthquake of magnitude greater than 6.0 to hit the islands in four months.

Related news

"Strongest earthquake in 150 years hits Costa Rica" — Wikinews, January 10, 2009

Sources

"Magnitude 6.5 - SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS 2009 January 19 03:35:19 UTC" — USGS, January 20, 2009
"Magnitude 6.4 - KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND 2009 January 18 14:11:45 UTC" — USGS, January 20, 2009
"Strong quake hits near New Caledonia" — TVNZ, January 19, 2009
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. "TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 001 ISSUED AT 0347Z 19 JAN 2009" — National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Agence-France Press. "Strong quake jolts remote islands off New Zealand" — channelnewsasia.com, January 18, 2009

References and external links

"7.0 quake hits Kermadec Islands" — Stuff.co.nz, December 9, 2008
United States Geological Service. "Latest Earthquakes M5.0+ in the World - Past 7 days" —

Share this:

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

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.

English Wikinews RSS feed.

Vanuatu hit by 7.2 magnitude earthquake

Sources [edit]

Strong earthquakes in Indian and Pacific Oceans

Related news [edit]

Sources [edit]

Wikinews Shorts: January 21, 2009

Contents

Obama requests halt to Guantanamo trials [edit]

New York Jets hire new head coach [edit]

Two strong earthquakes strike the South Pacific [edit]