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Major earthquake in Banda Sea shakes Darwin

A large earthquake occurred late this evening in the Banda Sea, north of Darwin.

The earthquake of magnitude 7.1 on the Richter scale occurred at 09.42pm AEDST (10:42:05 UT) about 660 kilometres North of Darwin.

"The event occurred approximately 190 kilometres below the surface and is extremely unlikely to have caused a tsunami", said Geoscience Australia Seismologist Dr Spiro Spiliopoulos.

The earthquake was felt in Darwin and surrounding areas with reports of windows shaking for over a minute. At this stage there has been no recorded damage in the Darwin area.

"Banda Sea is located on a plate boundary, and consequently earthquakes are quite common in this area, Dr Spiliopoulos said. The last magnitude 7 earthquake in this particular area was in Dec, 1995".

For more information or to arrange an interview, call the Geoscience Australia Duty Seismologist on 0407 216 622 or the Geoscience Australia Media Hotline (24 hours) on Freecall 1800 882 035.

For a list of the most recent earthquakes visit the Geoscience Australia website - www.ga.gov.au.