Aftershocks hit Guam area after magnitude 7.2 earthquake
By APSaturday, August 14, 2010
Aftershocks hit Guam area after large earthquake
HAGATNA, Guam — A flurry of earthquakes as powerful as magnitude 6.6 have struck in the Pacific Ocean off Guam, hours after a large temblor hit the region.
The quakes Saturday and early Sunday were centered 230 miles south of Guam, the same area as the powerful 7.2-magnitude quake that hit earlier Saturday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
In addition to the 6.6 temblor — which shook the area at about 9 a.m. local time on Sunday — aftershocks hit with magnitudes of 4.6, 4.7, 5.0, 5.2 and 6.3. None posed a tsunami threat, officials said.
Authorities on Guam and the nearby Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands said that despite the large quake’s size it wasn’t felt and caused no damage.
The USGS said the aftershocks apparently also went unnoticed.
USGS geophysicist Randy Baldwin said such aftershocks are normal following a large quake.
“That’s especially true if it’s shallow,” he said. All the quakes were about three to six miles beneath the ocean floor.
Guam is located 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.
