Event Time
2013-07-26 21:32:59 UTC
2013-07-26 19:32:59 UTC-02:00 at epicenter

Location
57.789°S 23.959°W depth=10.0km (6.2mi)

Nearby Cities
203km (126mi) NE of Bristol Island, South Sandwich Islands
2715km (1687mi) ESE of Ushuaia, Argentina
2937km (1825mi) ESE of Rio Gallegos, Argentina
2952km (1834mi) ESE of Punta Arenas, Chile
2258km (1403mi) ESE of Stanley, Falkland Islands

Technical Details

Event Time
2013-07-26 07:07:17 UTC
2013-07-26 18:07:17 UTC+11:00 at epicenter

Location
15.362°S 167.584°E depth=135.5km (84.2mi)

Nearby Cities
48km (30mi) ENE of Luganville, Vanuatu
274km (170mi) NNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu
615km (382mi) N of We, New Caledonia
760km (472mi) N of Dumbea, New Caledonia
760km (472mi) N of Paita, New Caledonia

Technical Details

New Zealanders ran screaming from buildings in Wellington yesterday as a magnitude 6.5 earthquake blew out windows and caused part of the city's port to slide into the sea.

The earthquake struck at 5:09 p.m. local time and was centered offshore, 57 kilometers (35 miles) south-southwest of the capital city, at a depth of 14 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was New Zealand's biggest quake since a magnitude 6.3 killed 185 people in the South Island city of Christchurch two years ago, and the strongest to hit the central region of the country since 1942, GNS Science seismologist John Ristau said.

There is an 8 percent chance of another magnitude 6 event or larger in the next 24 hours, and 20 percent over the next seven days, Ristau said in a telephone interview. "A large earthquake can increase stress or decrease stress on neighboring faults, that's what we're looking closely at," he said.

Event Time
2013-07-22 07:01:42 UTC
2013-07-22 09:01:42 UTC+02:00 at epicenter

Location
46.042°S 34.825°E depth=10.0km (6.2mi)

Nearby Cities
244km (152mi) WNW of Marion Island, Prince Edward Islands
1538km (956mi) SSE of Port Alfred, South Africa
1558km (968mi) SSE of Port Elizabeth, South Africa
1562km (971mi) SSE of East London, South Africa
1963km (1220mi) SSE of Maseru, Lesotho

Technical Details

Two powerful earthquakes have struck China's north-west Gansu province, killing at least 75 people and leaving more than 400 others injured. The first earthquake near Dingxi city had a magnitude of5.9 and was shallow, with a depth of just 9.8 km (6 miles), the US Geological Survey said. Just over an hour later, a magnitude 5.6 quake hit the same area, it added. In 2008, an earthquake in Sichuan province left up to 90,000 people dead and millions homeless. A factory worker in Minxian county told AFP that he felt "violent shaking" and "ran to the yard of the [factory] plant immediately. Our factory is only one floor. When I came to the yard, I saw an 18-storey building, the tallest in our county, shaking ferociously, especially the 18th floor," he said. The area has been hit by 371 aftershocks, according to the Earthquake Administration of Gansu province. Tremors were felt in the provincial capital, Lanzhou, and as far away as Xian, 400km (250 miles) to the east.

At least 5,600 houses in the province's Zhangxian County are seriously damaged and 380 have collapsed, while some areas suffered from power cuts or mobile communications being disrupted, the earthquake administration added. "Many have been injured by collapsed houses," a doctor based in Minxian County was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying. "Many villagers have gone to local hospitals along the roads." The earthquake has caused a direct economic loss of 198 million Yuan ($32m; £21m), the Dingxi government said on its micro-blog. The closer to the surface an earthquake strikes, the more damage it can cause, our correspondent adds. The earthquake reportedly triggered a series of mudslides and landslides, making it difficult for rescuers to access some areas hit by the quake. The Gansu military police have deployed 500 soldiers, including 120 specialist rescuers, while 500 emergency tents and 2,000 quilts are also being transported to affected areas, Xinhua added. Officials from the civil affairs, transportation and earthquake departments were also visiting local towns to assess the damage, a statement on the Dingxi party website said. - BBC

A powerful earthquake has hit China's north-west Gansu province, killing at least 11 people and seriously injuring at least 81 more, officials say.

The earthquake near Dingxi city had a magnitude of 5.98 and was shallow with a depth of just 9.8 km (6 miles), according to the US Geological Survey.

Dingxi local authorities say several houses have collapsed in the quake. In 2008, an earthquake in Sichuan province left up to 90,000 people dead and millions homeless.

Officials from the civil affairs, transportation and earthquake departments are visiting local towns to assess the damage, a statement on the Dingxi party website said.

Crews of fire fighters and rescue dogs have already arrived at the scene, the BBC's Celia Hatton in Beijing reports. The closer to the surface an earthquake strikes, the more damage it can cause, our correspondent adds.

"You could see the chandeliers wobble and the windows vibrating and making noise, but there aren't any cracks in the walls," AFP quoted a clerk at Wuyang Hotel, about 40 km (25 miles) from the epicentre, as saying.

"Shop assistants all poured out onto the streets when the shaking began," the clerk said.

Event Time
2013-07-21 05:09:31 UTC
2013-07-21 17:09:31 UTC+12:00 at epicenter

Location
41.713°S 174.443°E depth=14.0km (8.7mi)

Nearby Cities
46km (29mi) ESE of Blenheim, New Zealand
53km (33mi) SSW of Karori, New Zealand
54km (34mi) SSW of Wellington, New Zealand
67km (42mi) SW of Lower Hutt, New Zealand
72km (45mi) SSW of Porirua, New Zealand

A 4.3 quake hit the east coast of New Zealand tonight, following a 4.5 magnitude quake in central New Zealand this afternoon, and a 5.7 earthquake that rattled people in Wellington and Blenheim this morning. Geonet reported tonight's quake was 20 km east of Te Araroa, a settlement on the east coast of the north island, near the southern edge of the Bay of Plenty. The quake was 62 km deep and hit at 11.42pm. GeoNet reported this afternoon's was of a "strong" intensity, 35 km east of Seddon, at a depth of 15 km. The quake hit at 3.21pm.

The first quake struck at 9.06 am and was centered 30km east of Seddon, south of Blenheim, at a depth of 8 km. Rated as severe, it turned Wellington office workers white-knuckled as it swayed high-rises in the capital, with buildings also being rocked in Blenheim. The shallow tremor was felt as far away as Christchurch and New Plymouth. In Wellington it was felt as one jolt, gradually picking up in intensity, while those in Blenheim felt two shakes. GeoNet said it received more than 6000 reports after the jolt. It said the fact it struck off the South Island spared the region from its full force, though there were a few reports that it had a damaging intensity.

People screamed, dived under desks and sheltered in doorways as a "severe" magnitude 5.7 earthquake rocked Wellington this morning.

There have been no reports of damage so far, but workers in the central city have described multi-storey office buildings swaying for at least 30 seconds as the quake hit at 9.06am.

GeoNet said the "severe" quake struck 30km east of Seddon, in Marlborough, at a depth of 8km.

There has been a flurry of smaller shocks since the initial magnitude 5.7 quake, the strongest recorded as magnitude 3.8 at 9.38am.

At least 10 other shocks were recorded in the Marlborough area by 9.45am.

A Fire Service central communications spokeswoman said there were no reports of damage in the Wellington region so far, although an alarm activation may have been caused by the quake.

The quake shook the emergency services communications centre on the seventh floor of the police station on Victoria St in central Wellington for a good 30 seconds, she said.

There have also been no reports of damage in the upper South Island, a Fire Service southern communications spokesman said.

Event Time
2013-07-17 02:37:42 UTC
2013-07-16 21:37:42 UTC-05:00 at epicenter

Location
15.635°S 71.773°W depth=6.6km (4.1mi)

Nearby Cities
18km (11mi) W of Chivay, Peru
88km (55mi) NNW of Arequipa, Peru
148km (92mi) NE of Camana, Peru
151km (94mi) WSW of Ayaviri, Peru
399km (248mi) WNW of La Paz, Bolivia

Technical Details