Strong 6.5 quake shakes New Zealand: USGS

[EyeToEye]

Strong 6.5 quake shakes New Zealand: USGS

AFP : Wellington, Sun Jul 21 2013, 13:08 hrs

Photo is for representational purpose. (Reuters)

A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off New Zealand today, jolting the nation's capital but no tsunami alert was issued and there were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake hit at 5:09 pm (0509 GMT) 57 kilometres (36 miles) south-southwest of Wellington at a depth of 14 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

USGS initially reported the magnitude at 6.9. It was followed minutes later by another quake of 5.5 and came about 10 hours after a 5.8 tremor in the same region which has been rocked by multiple quakes in recent days.

Dozens of earthquakes were recorded today with New Zealand's GeoNet earthquake monitoring service describing the 6.5 tremor which was felt widely as "severe".

"There was a rocking and rattling which lasted about 30 seconds," a resident in the South Island resort town of Nelson said.

The fire service received multiple calls to assist people trapped in elevators in Wellington and the tremblor also set off sprinklers in city buildings and cut electricity supplies in many areas.

Seismologist Anna Kaiser told the New Zealand Herald that earthquakes of this magnitude were not unusual in the region.

"When we get one of these events there will be increased seismicity in the region and there's always the possibility of a larger event but it's unlikely."

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said earthquakes of such magnitude can generate local tsunamis but there was no threat of a "destructive widespread tsunami".

New Zealand's civil defence authorities said it was "unlikely to have caused a tsunami that will pose a threat to New Zealand."

Recent quakes have been centred about 200 kilometres north of New Zealand's second largest city Christchurch, where a 6.3-magnitude quake in February 2011 toppled buildings onto lunchtime crowds, leaving 185 people dead.

The country sits on the so-called "Ring of Fire", the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, and experiences up to 15,000 tremors a year.

 

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21 July 2013 Last updated at 10:24 GMT

A series of earthquakes have struck New Zealand, with the strongest measuring 6.5 in magnitude hitting the coast off Wellington.

Tony Vale, news editor at Radio New Zealand, said the city seemed to have escaped serious damage, partly because of the design of many of the buildings.

He said people did not seem too concerned, adding that the entertainment district was "going at full bore even now; restaurants and bars are full."

 

[SIMM0NS]

Emergency Crews Are Cleaning Up After A Strong 6.5 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks New Zealand

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE JUL. 21, 2013, 7:50 PM 1,109 1

Emergency crews launched a major clean-up Monday following a 6.5-magnitude earthquake in Wellington, as aftershocks continued to rattle the New Zealand capital.

The quake, the strongest of scores of tremors to hit central New Zealand since Friday, sent masonry and glass plunging into city streets as panicked locals bolted for cover.

It struck at 5:09 pm (0509 GMT) on Sunday 57 kilometres (36 miles) south-southwest of Wellington at a depth of 14 kilometres (8.6 miles), the US Geological Survey said.

The city's downtown area was eerily quiet on Monday morning, with authorities urging office workers to stay at home so emergency crews could carry out damage assessment and clean up debris.

Chunks of fallen masonry were visible on some pavements and Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said there were fears more glass could drop from office towers which were sent swaying by the seismic jolt.

Wade-Brown said there were only four reports of minor injuries from the quake which occurred when the central business district was largely empty.

"We're very grateful that that's how we've come out of quite a significant earthquake," she told reporters.

However, nerves remained frayed in New Zealand, where a devastating tremor two years ago killed 185 people in the main South Island city of Christchurch.

"I worry about the mental impact on Wellingtonians, just the fear factor," Prime Minister John Key told TVNZ.

"People have high levels of anxiety in earthquakes, that's totally understandable, they feel helpless, they can't control the situation."

The official GeoNet seismic monitoring service described the quake as "severe" and said there was a one-in-three chance of another tremor measuring 6.0 or above in the next week.

It said dozens of aftershocks were recorded in the region overnight, the strongest measuring 4.9.