Japan sets deep sea drilling record

29 Apr 2012, 2:55 pm   -   Source: AAP

A Japanese research vessel has set a record for undersea drilling, reaching a depth of 7740 metres.

A Japanese research vessel has set a record for undersea drilling, reaching a depth of 7740 metres.

A vessel with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology had set the mark in waters off Honshu island's Miyagi Prefecture, the agency said on Saturday.

The Chikyu, a deep-sea research vessel, broke the record of 7,049.5 metres set by a US vessel in the Mariana Trench in 1978.

The Chikyu was at anchor about 220 kilometres off Oshika Peninsula, Miyagi Prefecture, to research the focal regions on the seabed around the Japan Trench, which is believed to have generated a huge tsunami on March 11 last year, the date of the massive 9.0 magnitude Great East Japan earthquake.

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