Earthquake of magnitude 7.0 hits Kermadec Islands, New Zealand

An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 on the Richter scale struck in Kermadec Islands region, located north of New Zealand, on Thursday morning, according to a statement by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). At a depth of 10 kilometres, the earthquake occurred. Coastal areas within 300 kilometres of the epicentre may see dangerous tsunami waves, the agency warns in a separate statement.

Taking to Twitter, the Bureau of Meterology, Australia said: "No tsunami threat to Australia from magnitude 6.8 #earthquake near Kermadec Islands Region, north of New Zealand."

Earthquake of magnitude 6.1 hits Papua New Guinea

According to the National Institute for Seismology, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck 443 kilometres north of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on Tuesday at 06:19:08 IST (NCS). The capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea, an Oceanian nation, is Port Moresby.

The National Centre for Seismology in a tweet said: "Earthquake of Magnitude 6.1, Occurred on 14-03-2023, 06:19:08 IST, Lat: -5.47 & Long: 146.87, Depth: 200 Km, Location: 443km N of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea."

Earthquake of magnitude 4.7 hits Peru

Peru was struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.7 on the Richter scale on March 13. The quake struck 48 kilometre southwest of Alianza Cristiana, Peru, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. The earthquake occurred at 03:11:49 (UTC+05:30) and hit Alianza Cristiana, Peru on Monday, at a depth of 108.3 km, the USGS informed. The epicentre was 3.868°S and 76.622°W, respectively.

Turkey earthquake claimed more than 45,000 lives

Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced that the deadly earthquakes that shook the nation last month have claimed the lives of 45,968 people in total. Speaking in the southern Turkish city of Antakya, which was ravaged by the earthquake, Soylu said that 4,267 of those murdered in Turkey were Syrian nationals.

One month after a massive earthquake devastated parts of Turkey and Syria, hundreds of thousands of people still need housing and sanitation, and a $1 billion appeal to aid survivors is just 10% funded, hindering efforts to solve the humanitarian tragedy, a UN official said.

The February 6 earthquake and its severe aftershocks caused up to 47,000 fatalities, 214,000 damaged or destroyed buildings, and hundreds of thousands of displaced people, making it the worst disaster in modern Turkish history. UN estimates that the earthquake in Syria killed about 6,000 people, the majority of whom were in the rebel-controlled northwest.