10/4/2023 0 Comments New zealand quake![]() The first quake was centered at a depth of 21 kilometers (13 miles) under the ocean about 174 kilometers (108 miles) northeast of the city of Gisborne. The USGS said the magnitude 7.4 quake was likely a “foreshock” that contributed to the larger quake but that the first quake that hit closer to New Zealand was too far away in time and distance to have directly contributed. She said most quakes larger than magnitude 8.0 tend to occur when a section of more robust continental crust is involved. “This is about as big as it gets,” she said. Jennifer Eccles, an earthquake expert at the University of Auckland, said the quake was at the top end of the scale for those involving only the Earth's ocean crust. It said the interaction between the plates creates one of the most seismically active regions in the world, and it has recorded 215 quakes there above magnitude 6.0 over the past century. The USGS said in a report that the quake occurred at the intersection of the Pacific and Australia tectonic plates and eclipsed the largest quake previously recorded along the fault line, a magnitude 8.0 in 1976. But a large group of more than 100 people including scientists and students was due to stay on the islands this week, until they were forced to cancel because of a virus lockdown in Auckland, said a spokesperson from the Department of Conservation. ![]() Geological Survey said the strongest quake was centered near the Kermadec Islands at a depth of 19 kilometers (12 miles).Īlthough the islands are uninhabited, New Zealand has built research and accommodation facilities there and often had scientists cycling through until the coronavirus hit last year and it halted the program. Smaller waves were measured elsewhere in the South Pacific. Waves of 30 centimeters (1 foot) above tide levels were measured by ocean gauges off the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, off Gisborne, New Zealand, and off an Australian island. Guatemala issued a tsunami alert, and authorities in El Salvador ordered people to take precautions in recreational activities. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cautioned the quake could cause tsunami waves of up to 3 meters (10 feet) in Vanuatu and up to 1 meter (3 feet) in Tonga, other South Pacific islands and Latin America's Pacific coast.Ĭhilean authorities ordered people off beaches due to the potential for a tsunami along the nation's long coastline. “I can only thank and acknowledge the tireless efforts of the men and women from up and down the coast who knew how to act, when to act, and what to do.” “They felt the long or strong earthquakes and they knew to grab their bag and head into the highlands,” she said. They said a damaging tsunami was possible, and waves could reach up to 3 meters (10 feet).Įmergency Management Minister Kiri Allan told reporters that people had followed the advisory. “Hope everyone is ok out there,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wrote on Facebook during the night.Īfter the largest quake, civil defense authorities in New Zealand told people in some coastal areas to immediately get to higher ground. New Zealand sits on the seismically active “ Ring of Fire” around the Pacific Ocean, where about 90 per cent of the world’s earthquakes occur.Ī magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 10 kilometres from Christchurch’s central business district in 2011, killing 185 people and injuring thousands more.One of the earlier quakes hit much closer to New Zealand and awoke many people as they felt a long, rumbling shaking. The strongest aftershock recorded so far was magnitude 6.3. The region has already experienced more than 300 aftershocks, half of which have been magnitude 4 or greater. Nevertheless, it could set off the closer Hope Fault, which branches off the Alpine Fault, he says. However, Ristau believes Monday’s earthquake is probably too far away from the Alpine Fault to have a direct effect. If the 600-kilometre fault ruptures, it will produce one of the biggest earthquakes in New Zealand since European settlement, says GNS Science. The giant Alpine Fault borders the South Island and splays into many faults through the North Island, he says. The stress change could trigger a powerful earthquake at the interface between the Australian and Pacific plates, known as the Alpine Fault, says Kevin McCue at Central Queensland University. The South Island was thrust up over the Pacific plate with some sideways slip. Preliminary data show the earthquake occurred on a previously unknown fault near the interface of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates. Waves measuring 2.5 metres hit the coast soon afterwards, but further, larger waves of up to 5 metres that were feared didn’t happen. The quake triggered a tsunami warning that was later cancelled.
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