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A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Tonga Islands at a shallow depth of 10 km, increasing the likelihood of aftershocks and damage. Authorities are monitoring potential tsunami risks as the region frequently experiences significant seismic activity.
A powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Tonga Islands on Sunday, according to the National Center for Seismology (NCS). The quake occurred at a shallow depth of 10 km, making it more prone to aftershocks and potentially increasing its impact.
EQ of M: 7.0, On: 30/03/2025 17:48:48 IST, Lat: 20.06 S, Long: 174.04 W, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Tonga Islands.
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The NCS confirmed the details in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating that the earthquake was recorded at 17:48:48 IST, with coordinates 20.06°S latitude and 174.04°W longitude. While the extent of damage or casualties remains unclear, shallow quakes of this magnitude can cause significant ground shaking and structural damage. Authorities are likely monitoring the situation closely for possible tsunami risks or aftershocks in the region.
Also read: Powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake near Tonga, tsunami warning issued
Shallow earthquakes pose a greater threat than deeper ones because they release energy much closer to the Earth's surface. This results in more intense ground shaking, leading to greater structural damage and higher casualties. In contrast, deeper earthquakes lose much of their energy as they travel to the surface, making their impact less severe.
The Tonga Trench, where the Pacific and Australian plates converge, is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. Each year, approximately 200 earthquakes occur near Tonga, most of them small. However, large earthquakes strike about once every decade, while great earthquakes (magnitude 7 and above) happen roughly once a century. These powerful quakes can send energy waves across the globe, detectable by seismic instruments.
When an earthquake occurs, the energy propagates as a sound wave through the Earth, triggering various monitoring instruments. Seismometers detect the shaking, strainmeters record the deformation of rocks, and GPS sensors track even minuscule shifts in position caused by the quake.
Subduction zones, like the Tonga Trench, are hotspots for earthquakes. In these regions, one tectonic plate is forced beneath another, bending the overriding plate in the process. Over time, this bending leads to the creation of volcanoes and atolls, sometimes forming new islands. Eventually, the stress builds up, causing the overriding plate to slip—this sudden release of energy generates an earthquake and can result in the submersion of some islands.
This entire process follows the elastic rebound model, a concept developed after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake to explain seismic activity. However, it wasn't until the 1960s, with the advent of plate tectonic theory, that scientists fully understood the forces driving these massive geological events.
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