New Zealand earthquakes

The temblor hit the Cook Strait off the coast of the capital Wellington at 7:38 p.m. local time, the U.S. Geological Survey said, adding it was at a depth of 46 ...

The temblor hit the Cook Strait off the coast of the capital Wellington at 7:38 p.m. [declared](https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2023/02/14/New-Zealand-Cyclone-State-Of-Emergency-Declared/4541676374477/) a National State of Emergency for only the third time in its history. [said](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000jp1g/executive), adding it was at a depth of 46 miles. local time, the U.S. [tweeted](https://twitter.com/geonet/status/1625752678759567360?s=20&t=KBPmMYxAKf3rAATP6CxYLA). 15 (UPI) -- A strong earthquake shook northern New Zealand on Wednesday night, with tens of thousands of people on both of its main islands reporting having felt the natural phenomenon.

Government seismic monitor Geonet said earthquake measured magnitude 6.1, while USGS placed it slightly lower at 5.7. Witnesses in Wellington, on the southern ...

[New Zealnd responds to a cyclone - the South Pacific nation’s most destructive weather event in decades - that this week left four people dead](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/cyclone-gabrielle-new-zealand-hawkes-bay-chris-hipkins-b1060107.html). [prompted the New Zealand government to declare a state of national emergency for only the third time in history](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/cyclone-gabrielle-new-zealand-hawkes-bay-chris-hipkins-b1060107.html), as residents were forced to swim to safety and some had to be rescued from rooftops. An earthquake in Christchurch on the South Island in 2011 killed 185 people and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings. [A firefighter who studied in London has been named among those killed](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/new-zealand-cyclone-gabrielle-auckland-death-toll-firefighter-dave-van-zwanenberg-b1060415.html) in the cyclone, which struck the country’s north on Monday. [earthquake](/topic/earthquake) struck near [New Zealand](/topic/new-zealand)’s capital [Wellington](/topic/wellington) on Wednesday, as the nation grapples with widespread landslides and flooding following a [cyclone](/topic/cyclone). The quake struck under the Cook Strait that separates the North and South islands at a depth of 74km (50 miles), the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

6.1 earthquake shook New Zealand with an epicenter in northwest Paraparaumu. Tremors were felt in Levin, Porirua, French Pass, Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt, ...

New Zealand Civil Defense, in a Facebook post, confirmed that a magnitude of 6.0 occurred within the country that was 57 km deep. The earthquake struck at 7.38 pm at a depth of 76km. Many explained that the earthquake was an experience more of "rolling" than "jolting." The 6.1 earthquake comes after a “moderate” 4.4 magnitude earthquake hit Gisborne during the onslaught of Cyclone Gabrielle on Monday night. A resident in New Zealand has taken to their Twitter handle to share visuals of the 6.1 earthquake that struck on Wednesday and had its epicenter in Cook Strait. Von Möller on Twitter said that he was informed about the Magnitude 6.1 Earthquake in New Zealand. The cyclone caused landslides and ocean swells, destroying scores of homes and infrastructure in the north of New Zealand. Some residents took to their Twitter handle to say that the quake was the "loudest, strongest, scariest" that they felt in several years. 6.1 magnitude earthquake “caused a long and strong shake felt widely across the North Island and Marlborough region," said GeoNet. The second earthquake was detected on the seismic data of GeoNet within an hour of the first. New Zealand MP, Angelo von Möller, on Wednesday expressed concern about the safety of the New Zealanders as the 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck just weeks after the country was hit by deadly floods and Cyclone Gabrielle. As many as 61 thousand reports of feeling the jolts were registered by New Zealanders with different agencies.

Aecom associate director in ground engineering Jamie Codd moved to New Zealand in 2011, after the main Christchurch earthquake. He said that Wellington – the ...

In fact, the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake already caused significant liquefaction in the Wellington Port area and an equivalent earthquake closer to Wellington will probably do that once more, but on a larger scale. The lesson from Christchurch to try to prevent building on liquefiable soils cannot be applied to the existing areas of Wellington anymore and what is left is to apply measurements to minimize the risk and damage in Wellington in case of an earthquake. This is a similar idea to car suspension and sees the superstructure of a building decoupled from its substructure, isolating it. There is a 400mm seismic gap to allow for this movement – during the 2016 earthquake it “slid” around 15-20mm. Te Papa’s base isolation system takes the form of 152 flexible bearings, described as a “rubber-and-steel sandwich with a core of lead”, that sit between the main building and the concrete slab of its foundation. “One could imagine, for instance, to reserve the most liquefiable areas for sports fields or parks rather than residential areas, and build new residential areas on less sensitive areas. One technology to reduce earthquake impacts on buildings, pioneered by New Zealand scientist Dr William Robinson in the 1970s, is what’s known as base isolators or a base isolation system. Meanwhile, one critical piece of infrastructure that was damaged in the 2016 Kaikōura quake was State Highway 1, the country’s longest and most used road. That was in 2012 to 2013, so they’ve had several years to retrofit those buildings and apply new technologies.” The transport corridor north and south of Kaikōura suffered extensive damage and was inundated by numerous rockfalls and more than 750,000m3 of debris from 85 landslides. This has seen them construct the Transmission Gully Motorway, a new 27km road that stretches past Wellington with the express purpose of improving safety and offering better access. “They know which roads would be affected, which lifeline infrastructure would be affected, and then respond to them.

The North Island was hit by a 'strong' earthquake as it recovers from recent poor weather.

[the recent tragedy in Turkey](https://www.nationalworld.com/news/world/donate-turkey-earthquake-how-to-send-aid-uk-help-british-red-cross-oxfam-islamic-relief-appeals-4016374), and caused no loss of life or significant damage, [New Zealand’s prime minister Chris Hipkins](https://www.nationalworld.com/news/people/chris-hipkins-incoming-new-zealand-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-abuse-3997324) described his thoughts on the seismic event as “unprintable”. A strong shaking that lasted for several seconds was felt by a Reuters witness in the capital. Advertisement The event took place at 7.38pm local time on Wednesday 15 February.