At least six earth tremors had been felt in Fiji between September and October, the Fiji Sun has learned. The Department of Mineral Resources wants to reassure the public not to worry following Sunday’s earthquake South of Suva. But at the same time people should always remain alert. Department director Malakai Finau said that earthquakes occur all the time because Fiji is located within the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, which is an earthquake prone area. The 5.1 magnitude earthquake was the sixth occurrence to hit Fiji between September and October. According to the US Geological Survey, earthquakes occurred in or near Fiji on September 15, September 25, October 3, October 9 and 10 with the recent one on October 13. “These occurrences of earthquakes, whilst they are normal in our part of the world, was also a cause for worry as it has the potential to cause damage to land, property and it also poses a natural risk to lives,” Mr Finau said. “Earthquakes cannot be predicted and therefore current occurrence of many mild tremors may or may not lead to devastating earthquake events and this is also part of the reason earthquakes are worrying.” Mr Finau said the important message was the realisation that we live in an earthquake prone region. “We need to be alert and be prepared all the time to reduce the risks of earthquakes in our lives.” They have confirmed that the latest earthquake occurred 39.64 kilometres South of Vadravadra Village, Gau Island, or 100.03km South-East of Suva at a depth of 40.2 kilometres. No tsunami was generated.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 05:06:15 +0000
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