Seismo-Watch

More Special Earthquake Reports

October 12, 2001

GUAM, MARIANA ISLANDS - Preliminary data indicates a very strong earthquake registering Ms 7.0 (NEIC), Mw 7.0 (HRV), Mw 6.9 (HRV) occurred at 15:02:20, October 12, GMT in the Western Pacific Ocean, causing significant non-structural damage in the islands. There has been no word of injuries or deaths at this time.

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According to the National Earthquake Information Service (NEIC), United States Geological Survey (USGS) in Golden, CO, the earthquake occurred about 45 miles south-southeast of Agana, Guam and 175 miles south-southwest of Saipan, in a remote region of the Western Pacific Ocean.

The focal depth was placed between 29 km (NEIC) and 39 km (HRV).

Preliminary fault plane solution from Harvard Geophysical Laboratory (HRV) and the National Earthquake Information Service (NEIC) indicated the quake occurred along a NNE trending plane with nearly pure thrust (up and over motion (see fault plane solutions from HRV and NEIC).

Foreshocks and Aftershocks
There were no foreshocks and no aftershocks have been reported at this at this time. The waveforms below show a substantial disruption in background information for some time following the quake, but small aftershocks seem to appear from time to time and future analysis may isolate these events (see below).

Felt Reports
Preliminary reports indicate the quake shook the region hard, tossing items from tables and shelves, shattering windows, rupturing undergrounf utility lines, and knocking out power in may parts of the island. Some fires broke and commanded attention from local fire departments. Engineers have been dispatched to review several tall buildings and some bridges sustained some damage, one was closed for repairs.

There have been no reports of injuries or deaths at this time.

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Additional Seismic information links:

• Seismo-Watch Links to Global earthquake activity << more links
• NEIC information page.
  • Historical information maps

Seismograms of the earthquake series from nearby USGS stations:

• Gumo, Guam
• College Alaska
• La Paz, Bolivia
• Lobatse, Botswana, Africa

Mainstream media news reports:

• Guam Jolted by Earthquake (AP), Oct. 12, 9:45 PM ET
• 7.0 quake rocks island (Guam Pacific Daily News Oct. 12.