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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 3:50 p.m., Friday, May 9, 2008

6.7 quake shakes Guam, causing no damage

Associated Press

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — An undersea earthquake off Guam with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 shook the U.S. territory Saturday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

There were no reports of damage or injuries associated with the quake. A magnitude 6 temblor can cause severe damage.

The quake also failed to generate any destructive widespread tsunami, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu.

The U.S. Geological Survey issued a statement that said the quake struck at 7:51 a.m. (11:51 a.m. Friday HST) at a depth of 54.4 miles. The temblor was located 125 miles west-southwest of Hagatna, Guam, and 250 miles southwest of Saipan in the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands, it said.

Kim Alba, lifestyle editor at the Pacific Daily News, said the quake jolted her house, waking her up, but the shaking was apparently the extend of its impact on the island.

Air Force Tech Sgt. Brian Bahret, chief of media relations at Andersen Air Force Base, said there were no reports of damage at the air base on Guam.

Sarrah Iguel, a dispatch operator for Civil Defense in the Marianas, said no calls had been received reporting damage from the earthquake in the islands.

Guam is situated west of the international date line, about 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.