WORLDWIDE EARTHQUAKE REPORT AUGUST 15_2024
Moderate levels of seismic activity occurred in the past 24 hours
● M 5.4 - 44 km SSE of Yilan, Taiwan
09:06:45 (UTC)/11.3 km depth/
USGS
● M 5.0 - 116 km S of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea/12:13:06 (UTC)/35.0 km depth/
USGS
● M 5.3 - 31 km S of Lae, Papua New Guinea 15 13:13:14 (UTC)/10.0 km depth/
USGS
● M 6.1 - 26 km SE of Hualien City, Taiwan/
23:35:54 (UTC)/15.4 km depth/
USGS
A very strong magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurred in the Philippine Sea near the coast of Taiwan. Prior to this earthquake and further north, an M4.5 and an M5.4 earthquake had been recorded. According to USGS the quake was felt by over 23.6 million people across 3 countries: Taiwan (23.5 million), China (59,500), and Japan (1,730). USGS also issued a Green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses related to the earthquake. No aftershocks have been recorded so far.
Japan ends megaquake advisory on Nankai Trough disasters
Japan on Thursday ended its call for higher-than-usual risks of a major earthquake, one week after a strong tremor on the edge of the Nankai Trough seabed zone caused the government to issue its first-ever megaquake advisory.
Citizens can now return to normal life as no abnormalities were observed in the seismic activity of the Nankai Trough located along Japan's Pacific coast in the past week, said Yoshifumi Matsumura, the state minister for disaster management.
A Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) expert panel on Aug. 8 released an advisory that there was a "relatively higher chance" of a Nankai Trough megaquake as powerful as magnitude 9, after a magnitude-7.1 quake hit the country's southwest.
While the advisory was not a definitive prediction, the government asked residents of a wide range of western and central regions to review evacuation procedures in case of severe earthquake and tsunami disasters.
Central Japan Railway ended its week-long precaution of reducing the speed of trains running near coastal areas,
although the risk of another natural disaster, approaching Typhoon Ampil, forced the company to cancel high-speed trains connecting Tokyo and Nagoya on Friday.
Japan has predicted a 70%-80% chance of a Nankai Trough megaquake occurring in the next 30 years.
The government's worst-case scenario has estimated that a Nankai Trough megaquake and subsequent tsunami disaster could kill 323,000 people, destroy 2.38 million buildings and cause 220 trillion yen ($1.50 trillion) of economic damage.
In the past 24 hours, there were
1009 quakes of magnitudes up to 6.1:
●1 quake above magnitude 6
●3 quakes between magnitude 5 and 6
●34 quakes between magnitude 4 and 5
●112 quakes between magnitude 3 and 4
●256 quakes between magnitude 2 and 3
●603 quakes below magnitude 2 that people normally don't feel.