Felix Chaudhary 
[Source: EPA]
The Vanuatu earthquake on Tuesday occurred at ground zero of one of the most active plate boundaries in the world, says Professor Mark Stirling, Chair of Earthquake Science, University of Otago.
“The subduction zone between the Vanuatu microplate and Australian plate is moving extremely fast (about 170 mm/yr), so major earthquakes are commonplace there,” he said.
“This earthquake was at nearly 60 km depth and magnitude 7.3 according to the US Geological Survey, which means it was significantly smaller than the magnitude >8 tsunami-generating earthquakes that can occur there.
“An earthquake of today’s magnitude would have to have occurred in the shallow crust (<20km) to produce a damaging local tsunami. What it did produce was damaging high-frequency shaking, based on the observed building damage.”
The 7.3 magnitude quake which struck near Port Vila, has so far claimed 14 lives but authorities believe the death toll could increase as rescue efforts continue.
