Kermadec Island hit by quake
2005-05-16 14:09
Wellington - A strong earthquake shook the sea floor northeast of New Zealand on Monday, but was not expected to generate a tsunami, said officials.
The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 and was centred 425km southwest of the New Zealand territory of Raoul Island in the Kermadec Islands _ an uninhabited Pacific island group 700km northeast of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city.
It occurred 10km below the surface at 15:54 and was not felt in New Zealand.
Seismologist Ken Gledhill of New Zealand's Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences said: "That's a strong earthquake ... but a little smaller than a tsunami-generating earthquake, or a tsunami that's going to be serious" in its impact.
Gledhill said: Based on historical earthquake information from the region, "it's unlikely to have caused a tsunami."
He said Kermadec Islands regularly record strong quakes because they sit on the edge of the Pacific tectonic plate where it collided with the Australian plate to the west.
The active quake fault zone extended from Tonga, 2 000km, northeast of New Zealand, down through the North and South Islands and into the ocean area south of New Zealand.
- AP