Tuesday evening Eastern Indonesia and Australia felt a 7.1-magnitude earthquake centered in the Banda Sea, the body of water surrounding the islands of eastern Indonesia, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
No damage has been reported as of this writing, The quake struck at 7:42 p.m. local time 660 kilometers (410 miles) north of Darwin, northern Australia, 191 kilometers below the surface.
One USGS expert was quoted as saying there would be no tsunami, or giant ocean waves, such as those caused by the Dec. 26 quake off western Indonesia, killing more than 200,000 people. That quake was much shallower, at a depth of 30 kilometers compared to 191 km in this case.
Earthquakes are not unusual in this area known, due to volcanic activity, as the ring of fire.
Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center World Data Center for Seismology, Denver
A major earthquake occurred at 10:42:10 (UTC) on Wednesday, March 2, 2005.
The magnitude 7.1 event has been located in the BANDA SEA.
(This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)
Wednesday, March 2, 2005 at 10:42:10 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time
Wednesday, March 2, 2005 at 7:42:10 PM = local time at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
230 km (140 miles) NW of Saumlaki, Tanimbar Islands, Indonesia
370 km (230 miles) SSE of Ambon, Moluccas, Indonesia
660 km (410 miles) N of DARWIN, Northern Territory, Australia
2550 km (1590 miles) E of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia