Auckland 8.2
Dec 23, 2004

Massive quake strikes Antarctica
Dec 24, 2004

A massive earthquake measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale struck the largely uninhabited area around Macquarie Island in Antarctica, French seismological officials said. The quake hit at 1.58 AM Friday AEDT, the Earth Sciences Observatory in Strasbourg said in a statement. The Macquarie archipelago, an Australian territory some 1500km south-east of Tasmania, is the only island group in the world composed entirely of oceanic crust and rocks from the mantle - deep below the earth's surface - according to the website of the Australian Government's environment ministry. The island group, with mountains rising to 400m above sea level, became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997 due in part to its unique natural beauty and in part to its diversity in fauna.