2025 for January 1970

An earthquake of magnitude 6.0 on the Richter Scale jolted the West of Macquarie Island recently.

It is located around 1,500 km southeast of Tasmania, Australia, in the Pacific Ocean.
It is located about halfway between Australia and Antarctica.
The island is about 34 kilometers (21 miles) long and 5 kilometers (3 miles) wide.
No people live there permanently today.
The island is the exposed crest of the undersea Macquarie Ridge, raised to its present position where the Indo-Australian tectonic plate meets the Pacific plate.
It is a site of major geoconservation significance, being the only place on earth where rocks from the earth’s mantle (6 km below the ocean floor) are being actively exposed above sea level.
Macquarie Ridge is one of only 3 such ridges that impede the Antarctic Circumpolar Circulation.
This results in distinct differences between the west and east sides of the ridge, which are used in different ways by different species.
Although the island is treeless, there are a variety of native vegetation types, including grasses and many species of moss.
There are a few small glacial lakes.
Fauna: It is home to 4 species of penguins and 4 species of albatross, the island recorded 57 seabird species.
Regionally part of Oceania and politically a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1900, it became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 1978 and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

Source: ZEEB

Macquarie Island FAQs

Q1: Macquarie Island is located in which ocean?

Ans: Pacific Ocean

Q2: Which two tectonic plates meet near Macquarie Island?

Ans: Indo-Australian Plate and Pacific Plate

Q3: Why is Macquarie Island geologically significant?

Ans: It is the only place where mantle rocks are actively exposed above sea level.