M6.5 earthquake - west of Macquarie Island

What happened

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck west of Macquarie Island on 27 Apr 1981, 18:17 UTC at a depth of 10 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Strong. Can cause damage in populated areas up to tens of kilometres away. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.