Fed: Earthquake rattles northern Australia

AAP General News (Australia)
04-23-2004
Fed: Earthquake rattles northern Australia

CANBERRA, April 23 AAP - An earthquake centred off the island of Timor today rattled
northern Australia and was felt more than 900km from its epicentre.

Seismologists at Geoscience Australia said the earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.4
on the Richter scale, was felt in Dili, Darwin, and Kununurra in northern Western Australia.

Seismologist Clive Collins said the quake struck at about 11:50am (AEST) and was centred
between 50 to 100km below the surface.

He said the depth of the quake made any tsunami activity unlikely.

"We have received reports of the earthquake from people in Darwin and Kununurra," Mr
Collins said.

"One person reported the quake from a 12-storey building in Darwin."

He said it was unlikely the quake had caused any damage in Australia.

He said the most recent earthquakes of a similar size in the region happened near Bali
on April 16 measuring 5.5, and north-east of Timor on April 17 measuring 6.1.

AAP jg/pw

KEYWORD: QUAKE

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