Buenos Aires: A strong earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Thursday, shaking the remote waters between South America and Antarctica but causing no immediate damage or casualties, officials said.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) initially measured the quake at magnitude 8.0 before revising it to 7.5, noting it struck at a shallow depth of 11 km (7 miles). The epicenter was about 700 km (435 miles) southeast of Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the country. The tremor occurred at 4:16 pm HST on Aug 21 (07:46 am IST, Aug 22).
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) briefly issued an alert for parts of Chile’s coast but later confirmed there was no tsunami threat to Hawaii or other distant regions. Chile’s Navy also raised an alert for its Antarctic territory, as the epicenter lay around 258 km (160 miles) northwest of the Chilean Frei research base.
Authorities reported no damage or casualties, largely owing to the isolation of the area.
