A magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurred in the southeast of the South Pacific archipelago nation on Thursday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
There have been no reports of a possible tsunami threat to date. Also, no reports of possible casualties or ary specific damage have been issued.
The preliminary data shows that the tremor was registered by the USGS at 22:49 UTC.
Temblor M6.1 Southeast of Loyalty Islands Fecha: 2021-02-17 22:49:41 GMT Prof.: 36 km. #temblor #sismo #earthquake https://t.co/xmyqakAt69 pic.twitter.com/dZPTYG9xut
— climaya (@climaya) February 17, 2021
The most recent earthquake near the islands occurred on February 10; it was a quite strong one, with a magnitude of 7.7. No casualties were reported then. Although, it prompted the New Zealand authorities to warn people along the northern coast of the country to avoid beaches and shore areas.
The Loyalty Islands area, SW of Fiji, had a large M7.7 EQ on Feb 10, and there have been many aftershocks. This is normal for an EQ that size, and that location on a plate boundary is very active. There have been 488 EQs greater than M6 there since 1900; 3 in 2020 alone! 🍫 pic.twitter.com/QVIAXpRsaw
— USGS Earthquakes (@USGS_Quakes) February 12, 2021
The Province of the Loyalty Islands is one of New Caledonia's subdivisions encompassing the Pacific archipelago of the Loyalty Islands, situated northeast of the New Caledonian mainland of Grande Terre.
New Caledonia in the Southwest Pacific is situated on the edge of the Australian Plate, which is subducting under the Pacific Plate, in one of the most active seismic areas of the globe.
