New Zealand: 5.0 magnitude earthquake hits Kermadec Islands

• Image Credit: Google

• Mar 18, 2023 | Dhupali Das

The earthquake struck New Zealand's Kermadec Islands on Saturday at 03:44:10 (UTC+05:30) at a depth of 10 km, USGS informed...

Digital Desk: An earthquake of magnitude 5.0 hit the Kermadec Islands region of New Zealand on Saturday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

The earthquake struck New Zealand's Kermadec Islands on Saturday at 03:44:10 (UTC+05:30) at a depth of 10 km, USGS informed.

The epicenters of the earthquake were located at 30.415°S and 176.629°W, respectively. So far, no casualties have been recorded.

Earlier this week, a strong earthquake registering 7.1 on the Richter scale struck the Kermadec Islands. According to the US Geological Survey, the shallow tremor occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers.

The US Tsunami Warning System said a tsunami was not anticipated after the powerful earthquake jolted the island. It tweeted, "Tsunami Info Stmt: M7.1 Kermadec Islands Region 1756PDT Mar 15: Tsunami NOT expected."

Following the earthquake, the National Emergency Management Agency stated that there was no tsunami danger to New Zealand. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said in a tweet that there is no tsunami danger to Australia.

The intensity of the earthquake can be assessed by the fact that the quake that killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey last month was 6.4 on the Richter scale. The tremors were so strong that hundreds of structures collapsed and thousands were injured.

It happened just a day after an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.7 on the Richter scale hit 263 kilometres south-southeast of Hotan, China, on Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported. Hotan is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in Western China.