Magnitude 7.4 quake hits Pakistan: USGS

ISLAMABAD: A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck southwestern Pakistan, the U.S. Geological Survey reported on Tuesday.

It said the quake was very shallow at a depth of 10 km (6.3 miles). It struck 55 km (34 miles) west of Dalbandin at 1:23 a.m. local time on Wednesday (2023 GMT on Tuesday).

There was no immediate report of damage from the area which lies close to Pakistan’s troubled border with Afghanistan.

The Pacific Tsunami Center said the onshore quake had not triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

A major quake of this magnitude is capable of causing widespread and heavy damage and could pose fresh strains on a country still reeling from devastating floods last year which left more than 10 milllion people homeless.

Tsunami warning after strong quake off Indonesia

JAKARTA: Earthquake monitoring agencies issued a tsunami warning on Monday after a powerful tremor measuring more than 7 on the Richter scale under the sea off the west coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at 7.5, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a local tsunami watch was in effect but a wider tsunami threat was not seen.

Indonesia’s earthquake agency also issued a tsunami warning. It said the quake hit 78 km northwest off South Pagai, one of the Mentawai islands, at a depth of 10 km. The agency measured the quake at 7.2.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties from the earthquake or any subsequent tsunami.

In December 2004, a tsunami caused by an earthquake of more than 9 magnitude off Sumatra killed more than 226,000 people.

It was the deadliest tsunami on record. AGENCIES

Magnitude 7.2 quake hits off Indonesia

WASHINGTON: A magnitude 7.2 quake struck off Indonesia, just one minute after a strong 6.6 tremor hit a few miles north, the U.S. Geological Survey reported on Wednesday.

The USGS said the second quake, which hit at 2:11 a.m. on Thursday (1711 GMT on Wednesday), was only 7.6 miles (12.3 km) deep and centered 68 miles (109 km) northwest of Dobo, in the Aru Islands, very close to the first quake.

It was not immediately known whether the quake caused any damage or casualties.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quakes did not trigger an ocean-wide tsunami warning but could cause local tsunamis that could be destructive along the coasts located within a few hundred miles (km) of the epicenter.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is prone to earthquakes. AGENCIES

Israel warns Lebanon but also seeks calm along border

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a public warning to Lebanon on Wednesday, saying it would face a “vigorous” Israeli response in the event of more unrest on their shared border.

But at the same time as Netanyahu”s office published his comments, which put the Lebanese government in the same category as the militant Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Israeli, UN and Lebanese military officers were working behind the scenes to douse the flames.

“I want to make it clear to Hamas, and also to the government of Lebanon which we see as responsible for the violent provocation against our soldiers; do not test our resolve to defend Israel”s civilians and soldiers,” Netanyahu said.

Israel”s key ally, the United States, backed Israel”s contention that its troops were carrying out routine work on their own side of the frontier on Tuesday when they were subjected to an unprovoked attack by Lebanese soldiers.

“The firing of the Lebanese armed forces was wholly unjustified and unwarranted,” State Department Spokesman Philip Crowley said.

Netanyahu”s comments were made in a Hebrew-language statement distributed to media in writing and on video.

Tuesday”s firefight, the deadliest confrontation on Israel”s northern border in four years, took the lives of an Israeli colonel, two Lebanese soldiers and a Lebanese journalist.

Major 7.0-magnitude quake hits Papua New Guinea

SYDNEY: A major 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Papua New Guinea on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued.

The quake hit New Britain island at 8:01 am local time (2201 GMT Wednesday) at a depth of 54 kilometres, USGS said.

The epicentre was 145 kilometres (90 miles) east of Kandrian, on New Britain, and 570 kilometres (350 miles) east of Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, based in Hawaii, said there was no threat of a widespread destructive tsunami as a result of the quake.

Tsunami alert after 7.7 magnitude quake hits Indian Ocean

HONG KONG: A major 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the Indian Ocean on Sunday near India”s Nicobar Islands, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake hit at 1:26 am local time (1926 GMT) at a depth of 35 kilometres (22 miles) with the epicentre around 160 kilometres west of the Nicobar Islands.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a tsunami watch for all areas of the Indian Ocean following the quake.

Major quake hits Indonesia, tsunami watch issued

JAKARTA: A major 7.8-magnitude quake hit Indonesia”s northern Sumatra early Wednesday, US seismologists said, triggering a local tsunami watch.

The quake struck at a depth of 46 kilometres (29 miles), just off northern Sumatra, at 5:15 am (2215 GMT Tuesday), according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a watch for local tsunamis but said a widespread destructive tsunami was not expected.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

A massive tsunami hit Indonesia and other countries in the Indian Ocean rim in 2004, killing about 220,000 people, most of them in Aceh province in northern Sumatra.

A 7.6-magnitude quake in West Sumatra province in September last year killed about 1,000 people, according to official figures.

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