BEIJING, March 11 -- An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale jolted east of the South Sandwich Islands at 02:44:05 GMT on Tuesday (10:44:05 Beijing Time), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 60.917 degrees south latitude and 19.841 degrees west longtitude.