**In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true
either is true or becomes true.**
John Lilly
LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
5.1 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
6.7 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
7.3 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
5.1 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
6.1 OFFSHORE TARAPACA, CHILE
5.1 NICARAGUA
Yesterday, 4/1014 -
6.1 NICARAGUA
5.6 TONGA
5.0 OFFSHORE TARAPACA, CHILE
A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 was recorded off Papua New Guinea's remote Bougainville Island on Friday, but there were no immediate reports of damage. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said a destructive widespread tsunami was not expected but said waves could be generated along coasts in the area from an earthquake of that magnitude.
"This is a highly active area seismically. The population is strung out along the coast in a number of centres, but it's not densely populated." The quake was initially measured at 7.4 but was later revised down to 7.3. It was centred in the sea about 75 km (45 miles) southwest of the town of Arawa on Bougainville, at a depth of about 50 km (30 miles). Residents in Bougainville's second-largest town of Buka and Gizo in the north of the Solomon Islands reported feeling tremors but said there was no immediate signs of any damage.
In 1998, a magnitude 7 earthquake triggered a tsunami that smashed into villages near Aitape on Papua New Guinea's north coast and killed more than 2,000 people.
Nicaragua - A strong 6.1 earthquake shook the Nicaraguan capital of Managua on Thursday, knocking out telephone lines and power in some areas.
TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.
* In the Indian Ocean -
- Tropical cyclone Ita is located approximately 146 nm north of Cairns, Australia.
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Intense Category 4 Cyclone Ita bearing down on Australia. Expected to reach Category 5. With winds gusting up to 160-180 mph, Cyclone Ita is barreling toward the northern coast of Queensland, Australia.
It's violent winds, expected to reach 280km/h, put Ita in a worse category than Cyclone Larry, which hit north Queensland in March 2006, leaving a trail of destruction. More than 9000 people will be "directly impacted" by cyclone Ita when it crosses the north Queensland coast on Friday night. Evacuations have begun and Queensland's premier is returning from overseas as the strongest cyclone since Yasi in 2011 moves in on the state's far north. Tourists and coastal residents were evacuating parts of the Great Barrier Reef on Thursday
Quiet 2014 hurricane season forecast - Top forecasters from Colorado State University predict a quiet 2014 Atlantic hurricane season, with nine tropical storms forecast.
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