During the last two days, two strong earthquakes occurred north of the Australian plate, on two sides of New Guinea, one of the most geologically complex and active areas in the world. The first earthquake occurred yesterday, May 6, at 15:53 (Italian time) with magnitude 6.8 in the Banda Sea, near Maluku Province, Indonesia. The second event, with magnitude 6.1, occurred today, May 7, at 1:21 pm (Italian time) off the Solomon Islands in the Pacific.
Both earthquakes were recorded and analyzed by the INGV's Tsunami Alert Centre, which constantly monitors seismic events around the world. Although the CAT's area of expertise is limited to the Mediterranean Sea (see CAT-INGV area of expertise), global monitoring is very useful for daily testing of tsunami warning procedures.
Both earthquakes occurred at large depth, estimated by the CAT at 125km and 485km respectively. For this reason, no tsunami alert has been issued by the relevant centres.