In a day of significant seismic activity across the globe, two major earthquakes with magnitudes above 6.0 struck off the coast of Indonesia and near Anchorage, Alaska. Over the past 24 hours, monitoring systems recorded a total of 526 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 or greater, though no events surpassed the 7.0 magnitude level.
The most powerful tremor was a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that occurred 63 kilometers west of Sinabang, Indonesia, on Thursday at 11:56 a.m. local time. Another strong event, a magnitude 6.0 quake, was recorded in Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna Borough, 38 miles northwest of Anchorage, at 8:11 a.m. local time.
Other notable seismic events included a magnitude 5.2 quake in the South Pacific, 305 kilometers southeast of New Caledonia, and a magnitude 5.0 tremor in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia. In total, the day’s activity included two quakes in the 5.0 range, 35 in the 4.0 range, and 153 measuring between 3.0 and 3.9. The combined seismic energy released is estimated to be equivalent to a single magnitude 6.4 earthquake.
Interestingly, some smaller quakes generated more widespread public response than the major tremors. A magnitude 4.0 earthquake 43 kilometers north of Dhaka, Bangladesh, received the highest number of “felt” reports at 148. A magnitude 4.8 quake in the Aegean Sea near Crete, Greece, also drew considerable attention with 130 reports from residents. By comparison, the 6.3 magnitude quake in Indonesia generated 70 reports, and the 6.0 in Alaska received 38.
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