Three 7 + quakes Hit S.Pacific

[Christina]

(CNN) -- Three major earthquakes struck within an hour and 10 minutes Thursday morning near Vanuatu in the South Pacific, prompting a tsunami warning that was quickly lifted.

Thursday's quakes struck near Vanuatu in the South Pacific.

The first quake, with a magnitude of 7.8, struck at 9:03 a.m. (6:03 p.m. ET) at a depth of 35 km (22 miles) and an epicenter 295 km (180 miles) north-northwest of Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, the U.S. Geological Survey said.A second quake, with a magnitude of 7.7, struck 15 minutes later at the same depth and an epicenter of 340 km (210 miles) north-northwest of Luganville. The third quake, with a magnitude of 7.1, struck at 10:13 a.m. (7:13 p.m. ET) at about the same depth and an epicenter of 280 km (175 miles) north-northwest of Luganville. An aftershock, with a moderate magnitude of 5.7, struck 25 minutes after the third quake in about the same location, the USGS said. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued and then quickly lifted a regional tsunami warning and watch for parts of the Pacific near the first earthquake's epicenter.The first data from a buoy at Luganville on Vanuatu detected a tsunami wave of 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) at Luganville on Vanuatu, said Victor Sardina, a geophysicist with the center. Have you been affected? Share photos, video on iReportA second pulse of the wave was 10 centimeters (3.9 inches), he said. "It looks like a very small wave," he told CNN in a telephone interview.There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, Sardina said.The two major quakes that followed the first one were aftershocks, Sardina said. When there's a big quake, the pattern they follow is after the first quake, a second and then a third," he said. "Those are obviously related," he said. At the Hotel Le Paris in Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, the manager told CNN that she felt the shake but had not seen any damage. On Espiritu Santo Island in Vanuatu, dive-shop owner Rehan Syed said he was aware of no reports of damages or injuries."We have the sun out and winds are pretty normal," he told CNN. "Pretty cloudy skies but nothing more than that.""We felt the quake (my chair and my keyboard moved) but did not take too much notice as we live with shakes every week," said John Nicholls of Vanuatu Hotels in an e-mail. At the New Caledonia Hotel, guests were evacuated to higher ground, General Manager Torani George told CNN, adding that he had felt "nothing, nothing at all.""There is no panic, nothing," he said.

 

[Christina]

SERIES OF QUAKES, ALARMINGMike Sandiford, at the School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, said the series of large quakes in the region was unusual and that aftershocks could be expected for a few weeks."We only get about a dozen earthquakes of that magnitude or larger around the globe in a year, so it very unusual," Sandiford told Australian media."There will be a lot of questions to ask as to whether there is any relationship between these earthquakes."Sandiford said the Australian Plate, which caused the Sumatran and Vanuatu quakes, was the world's fastest moving tectonic plate and was creating great stresses.The Australian Plate is moving north/northeast, shoving over the Pacific Plate at 91 mm a year. The Sumatran quake was caused by a fault near the interface of the Australian Plate and Southeast Asia's Sunda Plate."All these earthquakes are related to the fact that we live on a very dynamic and fast moving plate," said Sandiford."Until now we would have thought quakes in Samoa and Sumatra and Vanuatu are too far apart to be caused in any other way than by mere coincidence. But it is certainly alarming that we have so many in such a short period of time."http://www.reuters.com/article/topN...ageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=11604&sp=true

 

[Christina]

A fourth 7.0 has occured four 7's in 11 hours has never occured before as far as anyone knows .... Fox news is reporting 16 major quakes(6 and above) in 48 hours and seismologists are concerned for west coast ....especially Calif. Long distance triggering is becoming more and more understood .....