Quake hits Australia's Macquarie Island

The US Geological Survey originally recorded the temblor as a 6.3 magnitude, but later upgraded the quake to 6.7.

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake rocked the coast of Australia's remote Macquarie Island on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said.

HT Image

The quake struck west of Macquarie Island at 2:54 pm local time (0454 GMT), and was centered 10 kilometres below the seabed.

The US Geological Survey originally recorded the temblor as a 6.3 magnitude, but later upgraded the quake to 6.7.

Stuart Koyanagi, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center at Ewa Beach, Hawaii, said the quake was unlikely to generate a major Pacific-wide tsunami.

"Normally at this magnitude we don't expect any kind of destructive tsunami," he said.

The isolated, sparsely populated island lies around 1,343 kilometres south of the island state of Tasmania, and serves as a base for Australian expeditions to Antarctica.