5.7-magnitude quake strikes remote Pacific area: USGS

Jan 29, 2012 |

Wellington (New Zealand)

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A moderate 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck beneath the Pacific off New Zealand's Kermadec Islands on Sunday, US geologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued.

The remote offshore quake hit at 01:42 am (1742 GMT) at a depth of 32 kilometres (20 miles), 65 kilometres east of Raoul Island and 926 kilometres south southwest of Tonga, the United States Geographical Survey said.

The USGS at first measured the quake at a magnitude of 6.2 but later downgraded the strength.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami alert for the area, part of the Pacific's "Ring of Fire", a highly active tectonic zone that frequently experiences earthquakes.

The initial quake was followed by several aftershocks with a magnitude of more than five.

The remote Kermadec Islands are New Zealand's northern most islands, 1,100 kilometres north of Auckland.

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