The World : 7.2 Quake Shakes S. Pacific

A huge earthquake ruptured a stretch of seabed about 125 miles north of Macquarie Island, midway between Australia and Antarctica, officials reported. The Australian Seismological Center said the quake had a magnitude of 7.2. The U.S. Geological Survey, which said the temblor was the strongest anywhere in the world this year, put the reading at 8.2. The Australian center said a stretch of seabed from 30 to 60 miles long and up to two miles deep apparently had ruptured, with one geological plate sliding over another. Undersea earthquakes sometimes result in tidal waves, but there was no evidence one had occurred. The South Pacific island of Macquarie is uninhabited except for a research station.