The Solomon Islands experienced an earthquake at 8:05 p.m. today, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. There were no immediate reports of injury or damage, not surprising since the area is sparsely populated and minimally developed. A tsunami warning was issued for all coastal areas in Papua New Guinea as a result of this earthquake. This was the strongest quake reported in the world in the last five months; the epicenter was placed on Guadacanal Island. The Richter scale measures ground motion as recorded on seismographs. Every increase of one number means a tenfold increase in magnitude. That means a reading of 7.5 shows an earthquake ten times stronger than a quake of 6.5.
The Solomon Islands experienced an earthquake at 8:05 p.m. today, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. There were no immediate reports of injury or damage, not surprising since the area is sparsely populated and minimally developed. No tsunami was reported. This was the strongest quake reported in the world in the last five months; the epicenter was placed on Guadacanal Island. The Richter scale measures ground motion as recorded on seismographs. Every increase of one number means a tenfold increase in magnitude. That means a reading of 7.5 shows an earthquake ten times stronger than a quake of 6.5.