7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Vanuatu – the fifth 7.0+ magnitude quake this year

April 2016 – VANUATU – A large earthquake has hit near Vanuatu, but initial fears that it could generate large tsunami waves appear to have passed. The quake was 10km deep and hit shortly after 7.30am, NZ time. It had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, but that had since been revised to 7.0. By 9.30am NZ time the Center had updated its information to say the tsunami threat had mostly passed.

The quake was centered about 95km southeast of the town of Santo, USGS said. A spokesman at Vanuatu’s Bauerfield International Airport in Port Vila said the quake did not feel major. “It was just a small one,” he said. The quake had not disrupted flights and the spokesman said he was not aware of any damage. Friday’s quake was the fifth this year measuring magnitude 7 or more. Only about 15 strike the planet on average every year. The biggest quakes were in Ecuador, on April 16, and Sumatra a month earlier. Both measured magnitude 7.8. More than 650 people died in the Ecuador quake. –Stuff