Unusual, strong and shallow M5.6 earthquake hit Antarctic region

Magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit Antarctic region on Friday, June 01, 2012 at 05:07:01 UTC according to USGS and EMSC. The epicenter was located 742 km (461 miles) SW of Mt. Siple, Antarctica (77.026°S, 148.853°W). The depth of epicenter was 9.9 km (6.2 miles).

It was followed by strong earthquakes worldwide – 4.9 at Molucca Sea, 5.7 near the north coast of Papua, Indonesia, 5.2 near the south coast of Honshu, Japan, 4.8 off the coast of Pakistan. 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit Southern Xinjiang, China with depth of 10km. 482 km deep magnitude 5.2 earthquake was recorded in Fiji region… the list goes on and it doesn’t seem it will stop any time soon.

Historical seismicity map is showing that there were no earthquakes recorded in that part of antartica for the at least 112 years. We can call this earthquake unusual and a rare event considering the location.

Article is taken from:        http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/