January 15, 2012 – ANTARTICA - A strong and shallow series of earthquakes have erupted near the remote South Shetland Islands region of Antarctica on Sunday, experts from the U.S. Geological Survey said. The earthquakes in the intense tectonically-activated series measured a 6.6 magnitude, followed by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake and 5.1 and 5.6 aftershocks. The epicenter of the earthquakes was at various depths of from one kilometer (0.62 miles) to 14 km (9.2 miles) below the earth’s surface and some 464 kilometers west of Coronation Island in distance.