Rare earthquake in Brazil's Amazon but no damage
Date: 23-Jun-03
Country: BRAZIL
Prof. Vasile Marza of the University of Brasilia's Seismology Observatory told Reuters the quake's epicenter was 344 miles (553 km) beneath the surface and of magnitude 7.
"It is a very lightly populated area, and probably no one even felt anything. ... But it is a pretty rare earthquake for Brazil," he said.
Latin America's largest country registered three earthquakes of that magnitude in the past 20 years, he added.
A magnitude 7 earthquake nearer the earth's surface and in a populated area would have been capable of causing widespread, heavy damage.
Marza said the number of strong tremors in the world had generally been low recently, raising the possibility an especially forceful earthquake is coming.