No report of quake-related damages

A 7.2-strong quake shook the Mariana Islands early Saturday morning, alarming Saipan residents—some of them jolted from sleep—in the second but strongest tremor felt so far in the CNMI this year.

But unlike on Guam, where there were reports of injuries and damage to property, there was none so far reported in the CNMI, based on a report by the Emergency Management Office.

No tsunami warning has been issued so far, even if reports have it that the quake was triggered by the convergence of the so-called Pacific plate and Philippine Sea plate under the Pacific Ocean.

The quake was felt at about 2:06am Saturday. Its epicenter was located at 30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of Hagatna, Guam, or 165 miles (270 kilometers) south-southwest of Saipan, at a depth of 76.0 kilometers. (See related story on Page 13)

Thirty-two-year-old Reynald Dela Torre was at the ground floor of the Finasisu Apartments when he felt the earth shook.

“I was jolted from my sleep. But I still thought that I was just dizzy, until I saw the bottled water on the table shaking,” Dela Torre said.

Some Saipan residents staying on medium-rise apartment complexes felt a pronounced tremor causing alarm that sent some out of their apartment units in their sleeping attire.

“There are no reports of any damage on the islands of Saipan, Rota, and Tinian as of this time. Tinian DPS on duty felt the quake but no calls [were received] from the public,” an EMO press statement said.

Saturday’s earthquake was the second tremor felt on Saipan this year, following the 4.9-strong quake that shook the island sometime last February.

The earthquake was also the fourth strongest in the world this year, based on data from the National Earthquake Information Center of the U.S. Geological Survey. The death toll resulting from earthquakes that occurred this year has reached 983.

The incident has triggered speculation by some Saipan residents that a tsunami may follow, but the EMO said yesterday there was no such warning as of yesterday afternoon. Tsunamis are huge ocean waves that are most often generated by earthquake-induced movement of the ocean floor.

Last year, several tremors were felt on the island, including the 7.0- intensity quake that mainly hit Guam last October. During the same month, two similar incidents that have a magnitude 5.2 and 4.8 struck the Northern Marianas.

The CNMI – which scientists said to be part of the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire where tectonic plates meet with the Asian plate – also experienced another tremor during the first few months of 2001, that measured intensity 5.3 on the Richter scale.