Earthquake Report - 17th June 2015
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake at a depth of 10km occurred on Wednesday 17 th June 2015 at 12.51 UCT approximately 500km (300 miles) North-West of Tristan da Cunha. This earth movement was associated with routine sea-floor spreading on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and not the Tristan da Cunha hot-spot. So there is no threat of a local volcanic eruption on Tristan as a result of this earthquake.
Nevertheless this was a considerable earthquake, one of only 9 of a magnitude 7 or over to have occurred worldwide in 2015 according to the BGS data base on 19th June.
See: http://earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/earthquakes/recent_world_events.html.
The earthquake was the most significant earthquake to effect the region in the last three years, since the website started systematic reporting of seismic events in the area. The earthquake was felt on Tristan and on 18th June ~
The St Mary’s School Newsletter, now called ‘The Longboat’ reported:
‘On Wednesday we experienced an earth tremor which was felt all over the Island. There was no damage and no tsunami but it was a reminder that we live in a dynamic zone of the planet.’
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