A swarm of earthquakes hit central New Zealand today, including a large 5.8 event this morning and a 6.5 one at around 5:00 pm local time that was centered about 35 miles south-southwest of Wellington centered in the narrow Cook Strait between the northern and southern islands of New Zealand.
The majority of the other, earlier, quakes were centered in the same area off Seddon in Marlborough that was hit on Friday by a 5.7.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) originally said the biggest of the quakes had registered 6.9 but later revised that figure.
The area around Wellington, the capital, is home to about 400,000 people. The small town of Seddon was just east of the epicenter on the southern island.
The first quake of the morning was a 4.2 one that occurred at a depth of 10 km and centered 35 km east of Seddon.
Just 13 minutes later, it was followed by a 5.8 earthquake that was centered 30 km east of Seddon at a depth of 19 km and then at 7.20 by a 4.3 km shake at a depth of 14 km and 25 km east of Seddon, while a fourth quake, registering 4.3, rattled the region from a depth of 22 km at 7.30 am.
So far this morning, there have been a total of more than 30 quakes in approximately the same area. The latest two were a 4.5 magnitude aftershock followed by a 5.1.
According to Geonet duty seismologist Dr Anna Kaiser, it’s expected they would continue.
It’s quite common to get a shock reaching about four (on the richter scale) before a larger one, like we had before the 5.8 this morning.
“It’s also normal to get a series of threes and fours afterwards and about every two minutes or so is common.”
GeoNet’s website crashed this morning due to a high demand from people wanting to see where the quakes have struck.
Wellington is a highly seismic active area and everyone should always be prepared, she said.
These quakes this morning are very close to the subduction interface, which is the boundary between the Pacific and Australian plate.”
All of the aftershocks have been centered in the same region and have ranged from 2.5 to 4.1. Geonet initially reported quakes in other areas in both islands, but it now appears they were erroneous recordings sparked by the other quakes.
Though there are no reports of damage yet, but Tranz Metro has advised all its services in Wellington have been delayed.
Neither police nor fire received any emergency calls.
According to the reactions of two people, Rosa Williams and Shiree Palmer on Facebook, the earthquakes today are bigger and stronger than Friday’s.
Erika Scott said on Facebook:
This was more a series of shakes and rolls for me and I feel safer than being in the city.”
According to a Blenheim man, the biggest of the quakes was like a strong jolt followed by a rolling motion for about 15 seconds.
Winemaker Peter Yealands stated that there appeared to be no damage at his Seddon winery.
He was having breakfast at his Seaview home near Seddon when the quake hit, he said.
It went on for about a minute, it was quite unnerving.”
He said that there did not appear to be any damage to the winery, although some wine had sloshed out of the tanks on to the floor.
Gary Spence, the Marlborough Civil Defense emergency services officer, said there had been no reports of damage, following the quakes.
I’ve talked to the sector manager from Seddon and it sounds like it was pretty much like Friday, a few things off the shelves in the supermarket, but no injury and no severe damage.”
According to the US Ambassador to New Zealand David Huebner in a tweet, the quake was felt as a “meaningful jolt and roll” in Lower Hutt.
Residents in Khandallah, Wellington, were woken by a sharp jolt, but said it didn’t feel as strong as Friday’s.
According to one of the women from Khandallah:
We felt a single big heave and then there was just a light rumble for about 15 seconds It wasn’t big enough to get us out of bed.”
Another Wellingtonian said:
“it made me get out of bed and crouch beside it and my husband walked through from the kitchen and joined me pointlessly huddled, so it must have last at least 15 seconds.”
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck between New Zealand’s main islands on Sunday, but initial reports indicated damage was light.
The swarm of earthquakes which has rocked New Zealand are a frightening reminder of the potential dangers the residents of Seddon, New Zealand face from earthquakes.
Written by: Douglas Cobb
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29 Responses
I was then quoting directly from the first source I mentioned, Source 1: http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8945362/Quakes-shake-central-New-Zealand
That comes straight from a newspaper called The Dominion Post, not directly from myself, though I did use the report as a source.
I don’t mention the town of Seaview at all in the article. I did say that Seddon is on the south island, in the fourth paragraph:
The area around Wellington, the capital, is home to about 400,000 people. The small town of Seddon was just east of the epicenter on the southern island.
Um. Yes you did. See below.
According to a Blenheim man, the biggest of the quakes was like a strong jolt followed by a rolling motion for about 15 seconds.
Winemaker Peter Yealands stated that there appeared to be no damage at his Seddon winery.
He was having breakfast at his Seaview home near Seddon when the quake hit, he said.
It went on for about a minute, it was quite unnerving.”
H
Seddon is not in Seaview, which is in the north island. Seddon is in the south island.
Thank you, Douglas, for ‘man-ing up’ and owning the error with the photo. It’s a lesson indeed, not to just look for a fitting image when reporting a catastrophic event. Using a simple graphic from a quake drum might be the best way until real footage and images are made accessible for use in future.
Hearing this news is something that makes many people like me, hope and immediately pray that no one is hurt or seriously injured!! Reading these comments, I am thankful that the only thing hurt is the media for getting it wrong. <3 from Southern California
This is much more accurate than your earlier article however there are still a couple of mistakes. Khandallah has a “d” in it.
With regards to the site of the swarm of earthquakes: If you were to ask a New Zealander where they were sited the reply would most likely be “In Cook Strait” which is the body of water between the North Island and the South Island of New Zealand. If you look on a map that is what these two main islands of New Zealand are called. We don’t refer to these islands as “northern”.
“The swarm of earthquakes which has rocked New Zealand are a frightening reminder of the potential dangers the residents of Seddon, New Zealand face from earthquakes.”
LOL! Seddon is a little town – it’s only really mentioned because it’s basically where the earthquakes were centred. This sentence should read instead: “The swarm of earthquakes which has rocked New Zealand are a frightening reminder of the potential dangers the residents of New Zealand face from earthquakes, particularly those living in both central New Zealand and the South Island.”
Residents from Taupo upwards are only really at risk of volcanoes.
Source: I live in Wellington. Just felt another one! For real info about the earthquakes, check geonet.org.nz (earthquake info), or visit stuff.co.nz or nzherald.co.nz (NZ news sites)
Sorry to hear that Whakatane is no longer situated in the Bay of Plenty. But pleased that those of us north of Taupo no longer need to worry about quakes…lol
Please remove the thumb nail photo of the PGC building off this article! This was one of the 2 buildings that collapsed in the Christchurch earthquake from 2011! At least use a more appropriate photo!
Suppose cant expect that when the initial article advised that the earthquake was in AUSTRALIA!
Agreed!
I agree. These photographs have no relationship to the latest earthquake and are merely dramatics. We Kiwi’s are constantly amazed at how geographically challenged some overseas reporters are.
ok, cool it now guys, don’t let us Kiwi’s appear as stupid as they are!
http://www.geonet.org.nz/
Glad to see that you are correcting your errors. But Geonet was not in error about the `other earthquakes` http://www.geonet.org.nz has readings from the many Quake drums set up around our country. It also tracks our Volcanoes as well.
Would you report that a quake in say San Fransico – if it followed one in Los Angeles was an error by USGS? Or would you check the facts first?
Kudos for trying to clean up the original mess – demerit points for still getting things wrong.
Thanks to everyone who is commenting on this article (and “The Onion” worthy article about Seddon, Aus). your comments are more accurate, and to be honest, better written. This is the first time I’ve come to this website, today it was just to see the train wreck of an article covering these recent earthquakes, the link is all over facebook. The lack of journalists credibility is now world famous in New Zealand.
I Absolutely no integrity to this reporting. Where do they get these idiots from?
I sincerely apologize for the incorrect photograph being with this article. The one of Christchurch has now been replaced. I looked for photos of the earthquake on Google, within the last 24 hours, a 6.5 one, and that one showed up, though the photo was , in fact, not one depicting the most recent earthquake at all. It mentioned Christchurch, but not a date, on the info with the photo. Anyway, I meant no offense, and I’m sorry about the error.
Idiot.
…….he Googled a photo……..Googled it……..let those words set in a bit.
Americans are idiots and fear mongering is kind of their thing. This proves it. Had a chance to fix their earlier big mistake and they still screwed up. Though can you expect much more from a country that thinks they are the only ones on the planet. Christchurch wasn’t affected, take that offensive pic down. And maybe hire journalists who know how to research properly.
Are you retarded? First you report that this earthquake was actually in AUSTRALIA and now you post photos from the christchurch earthquake on 22ND FEB 2011. Seriously. This is offensive.
Your photo is from Christchurch 2 years ago. Your first paragraph indicates that Christchurch was affected. Another article on this site states the quake was in Seddon, Australia.
This has to be the worst example of “journalism” I’ve ever seen. Get your facts straight and remove that photo of the PGC building – people were killed in there, show some respect. We are fine in Wellington, shaken and scared but fine.
not THE worst surely, another guy on this same site thinks todays quakes happened Oz.
Show some respect to the people who died in that building two years ago in Christchurch and take that photo down
That is the CTV Building in Christchurch, not Wellington – where the Earthquake happened today. People died in that building. No deaths in the Wellington quake tonight.
No its not its PGC, but agree, reference it correctly or take it down.
“Christchurch, New Zealand” & your photo above have nothing to do with today’s quake…wrong city, wrong year… #clueless
Why would you post a picture from an earthquake taken 2 years ago; a building in which people were killed.
There is NO big damage in today’s earthquake. Take this photo down and stop spreading fear.