WASHINGTON: A powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck in the far south Atlantic ocean in the inhospitable South Sandwich Islands region, the US Geological Survey said yesterday.
The USGS which monitors quakes worldwide initially said the quake was of magnitude 7.1, but later revised its strength downward. It also slightly revised the epicentre’s location.
The quake, which struck at 0752 GMT, had an epicentre 154km northwest of the uninhabited Visokoi Island, and 1,975km east-southeast of Stanley, the main city on the Falkland Islands, the USGS reported.
The epicentre was at a depth of 16.5 kilometers.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a bulletin stating that, based on historical data, “a destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist.”
The quake occurred near the boundary between the Antarctic tectonic plate and the Scotia Sea plate, two plates that slide past one another horizontally.
Earthquakes in the Pacific Rim area are more likely to trigger tsunamis because they are usually subduction quakes, when one tectonic plate moves under another and triggers a vertical movement in the seafloor.
The South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is a British overseas territory.
There is no native population to the islands, but there are scientific research outposts. Argentina claims the archipelago as well as the Falkland Islands to the west.
Falling security door kills child in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA: A 3-year-old girl was killed on Saturday when a metal security door fell on her at a flavoured ice shop in Philadelphia, according to local media reports.
The child was with her mother at a Rita’s Italian Ice location in the Brewerytown neighborhood when the security door detached from the building and trapped her underneath it, TV station WPVI reported, citing information from police.
People at the scene lifted the door off the girl and tried to revive her, and she was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, the station reported.
A Philadelphia police representative could not be reached for comment. Police are investigating the death, the TV station said.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to the child’s family. Due to the current investigation we really cannot comment about the unfortunate incident,” a representative for the chain Rita’s Italian Ice said in a statement.
Agencies
