US warns of 'local tsunami' after Gulf of Aden quake

WASHINGTON: The US government warned early on Saturday of the possibility of 'a local' tsunami in the Gulf of Aden following a strong earthquake that shook the maritime region.

The magnitude 6.3 tremor occurred in the Guld of Aden 240 kilometers west-northwest of Yemen's Socotra Island and 277 kilometers east-southeast of the Yemeni town of Al Mukalla at 0830 GMT Saturday, according to the US Geological Survey.

The reading was based on the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale, now used by US seismologists, which measures the area of the fault that ruptured and the total energy released. 

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of a widespread and destructive tidal wave.

But it warned that there existed "a very small possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than a hundred kilometers from the earthquake epicenter."