July 31, 2011 – – 6.8 Magnitude Earthquake Hits South Pacific Paradise: A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Monday morning off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
The quake hit at 9:39AM at the Epicenter. It was centered 81 miles east of Wewak, New Guinea; 135 miles NNW of Madang, New Guinea; 162 miles NNE of Mount Hagen, New Guinea and 438 miles NNW of Port Moresby, Papua, New Guinea (see map). The earthquake occurred August 1st in Asia (because of the International Dateline); however it was July 31st in the United States. When the tremor hit it was 7:39PM in New York City (EDT), 6:39PM in Chicago (CDT), 5:39PM in Denver (MST) and 10:39PM (PDT) in Los Angeles.
The Japan Meteorological Agency announced that there was a very small possibility of a local tsunami. However, any tsunami likely would not be over 20 inches high. Fortunately, two hours after the seismic activity struck, the Japanese agency reported there were no warnings or advisories still in effect.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue any threats or warning, noting that there was no danger of a tsunami striking Hawaii. Similarly, the Australia tsunami warning center said there was no threat to that nation.
Yet, this is the strongest tremor to strike the South Pacific in several months. Approximately 80% of the world’s great earthquakes strike along the “Ring of Fire.” This strengthens my prediction of a major earthquake (greater than 7.0M), or Volcano, along the subduction zones of the Pacific Tectonic Plate, on either August 9th or 10th.
The Master of Disaster
