Christchurch, New Zealand Aftershocks

3 large dangerous aftershocks hit Christchurch, New Zealand – shaking video

Last update: December 24, 2011 at 12:51 pm by By 

Earthquake overview : Multiple aftershocks hit the city of Christchurch and his suburbs during the early afternoon of December 23. 2 major aftershocks measuring 5.8 and 5.9 magnitude were the largest since many months.

Video of the shaking of the M 6.0  earthquake

Michelle Collins from Christchurch captured the shaking by accident as her camcorder was still running while positioned on a Christmas tree. She talks to the NZ Herald about the experience. This is what a M 6.0 feels like if you live near the epicenter. The heavy shaking lasted “only”  10 seconds, longer would certainly have generated much more damage. Miss Collins runs immediately outside while the shaking is still going on. Not wise at all, but in her case forgivable as she was only a few meters away from the patio/garden.

Liquefaction also occurred today. Funny to look at but something which may become very dangerous with higher magnitudes

Update 18:55 UTC
CERA (Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority) has advised the authorities that a Christchurch wide survey of houses would be desirable. The main reason of such a check is to find out whether the houses can withstand a new strong earthquake.

Update 17:40 UTC
M 5.1      2011/12/23 17:36    Depth 9.0 km     CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND
local time 06:37
One of the stronger aftershocks right below the Akaroa peninsula on a location that we had almost no aftershocks so far
10 km east of Akaroa and 50 km south-east of Christchurch
Satellite map of the greater epicenter area

Update 16:26 UTC
In Sydenham, the 100-year-old former Post Office building was demolished last night after sustaining further damage during yesterday’s aftershock.

Update 16:10 UTC
29 + M 3.0 aftershocks since the mainshock!

Update 15:06 UTC – An example to all earthquake sensitive countries in the world
Telecommunications were not hit that hard as a result of the quake. The disruption noticed was due to the problems with the main power supply, which implicated that some equipment was operating on battery and generator backup.
Telecom was asking people to use texts, rather than calling, in order to ease the load on its mobile networks. Emergency calling remained operational (Earthquake-Report.com is in favor of this policy – other countries should follow this example asap (we have encountered continuous problems elsewhere in the world due to too high peaks and due to non-battery backup masts).

Update 10:52 UTC
It looks like the current epicenter can be called “little out of range” of the other powerful earthquakes. The epicenter of the initial quake who triggered the other ones was was located a little out of the coast. Hopefully this will not start off a new episode of aftershocks

for more information and updates, go to:   http://earthquake-report.com/2011/12/23/3-large-dangerous-aftershocks-hit-christchurch-new-zealand/

Series of Earthquakes off New Zealand

Series of strong to very strong earthquakes out of the New Zealand North Island coast

Last update: November 18, 2011 at 11:03 am by By 

Earthquake overview :  3 earthquakes have struck 100 km out of the New Zealand East Cape coast. The earthquakes were largely observed by people on the East Cape.  The earthquake was felt as far as Rotorua.

“I have Felt it” Reports –> see below + Let us know “how you have felt this earthquake”
To read the full story as it happened, we advise our readers to start at the lower part of the page (earthquake data).

 

Isoseismal map – image courtesy Geonet GNS Science

Update Historic powerful earthquakes in the same area :
Same distance from the coast : M 7.0 and M 6.6 in 1995
Close to the coast : M 6.7 in 1914 and M 6.3 in 1956 

Update : According to the USGS, who has reported an epicenter closer to the coast, the following theoretical MMI numbers could be expected : 213 MMI V, 6,000 MMI IV, 288,000 MMI II and III. These numbers are contradicted by the Geonet reported numbers and the registered shaking values. The current experience, like so many other experiences in the past, are showing the importance of a tight seismograph network. Especially epicenter location and depth have often even bigger error margins than officially reported in their data sets.

Update : There was NEVER a tsunami risk

Update : The earthquake has been felt as far as Rotorua

Update : Reports from New Zealanders reveal a max. MMI IV (light shaking). Although the numbers are looking very strong, only 26 people have reported the earthquake to Geonet. Both other earthquakes were only felt by very few people. MMI IV in New Zealand gets the notion : largely observed

Update : The epicenter is on top of a subduction slope in front of the coast. The subduction slope are in fact 2 tectonic plates gliding below each other. The damaging Christchurch earthquake was triggered by the same tectonic movements.

Update We do NOT expect the M 6.1 earthquake to be damaging because of the depth of the hypocenter and the distance out of the coast.

Update : We have initiated this article after the 3th quake, the 6.1 magnitude earthquake.

Update : New Zealand GNS Science reports magnitudes of 5.3, 5.8 and 6.1 at depths of 12, 33 and 40 km. GNS Science data for New Zealand will be more precise than any other seismological agency in the world because of the many instruments they have installed all over New Zealand.

for more information, and updates, go to:    http://earthquake-report.com/2011/11/18/series-of-strong-to-very-strong-earthquakes-out-of-the-new-zealand-north-i

Large Kermadec Islands Earthquake

Second massive Kermadec Islands earthquake in 4 months time

Last update: October 21, 2011 at 11:10 pm by By 

being dangerous for populated islands. See links above

Information Bulletin Supplement Pacific Ocean :
SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. IT MAY HAVE BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. FOR THOSE AREAS – WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO THE CONTINUING SEA LEVEL CHANGES AND RAPID CURRENTS.  AS LOCAL CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES. NO TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS FOR OTHER COASTAL AREAS IN THE PACIFIC ALTHOUGH SOME OTHER AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE SMALL NON-DESTRUCTIVE SEA LEVEL CHANGES LASTING UP TO SEVERAL HOURS
NOAA Pacific Ocean message :

NO DESTRUCTIVE WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS BASED ON HISTORICAL EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI DATA.
NOAA Hawaii message :
BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII. REPEAT. A  DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.

Local tsunami in an unpopulated area – courtesy GDACS

Update:The earthquake has been felt in the North Island of New Zealand, more than 1000 km away from the epicenter.

Raoul island is too far away to experience a destructive shaking. A tsunami was generated with limited wave heights  and was not expected to be dangerous in New Zealand or Tonga.

Understanding this earthquake

The October 21, 2011 Kermadec Islands region earthquake occurred near the Kermadec Trench where the Pacific Plate begins its decent into the mantle beneath the eastern edge of the Australian Plate. At the latitude of this earthquake, the Pacific Plate is converging with Australia in a westward direction at a velocity of approximately 61 mm/yr. The preliminary mechanism and depth of the event suggest it ruptured a reverse fault within the oceanic lithosphere of the Pacific Plate; the initial location indicate a source slightly to the east of the trench, outboard (seaward) of the subduction zone itself, and thus not on the thrust interface between the Pacific and Australian plates.

The October 21 earthquake struck in an oceanic region with few nearby populations, approximately 500 km south of Tonga and 700 km north of New Zealand. This region of the Tonga-Kermadec subduction zone experiences reasonably high levels of seismic activity, with nearly 50 events of M 6.5 and above over the past 38 years, and 5 greater than M 7.5. Two of these, M 7.8 and M8.2 earthquakes on the same day in 1976, occurred just over 100 km west-northwest of todays event; an M7.8 event in 1978 struck nearly 250 km to the southwest, and an M 8.3 event occurred in October 1986, about 80 km to the north. None of these events have recorded damage or casualties.

In July of this year, a M 7.6 event occurred approximately 45 km to the south-southwest of the October 21 earthquake, breaking a normal fault within the subducting Pacific plate also very close to the Kermadec Trench. This event was notable because it triggered a large number of thrust-faulting aftershocks to the west of the plate boundary, on or close to the interface between the Pacific and Australian plates. The October 21 earthquake may be related to that aftershock sequence.

for more, go to:   http://earthquake-report.com/2011/10/21/second-massive-kermadec-islands-earthquake-in-4-months-time/

New Zealand Snow – Hints of Winter to Come?

Northern New Zealand shut down in the first snowfall in 40 years

Published on August 16, 2011 4:15 am PT
– By Jim Duran – Writer
– Article Editor and Approved – Warren Miller


No larger image

(TheWeatherSpace.com) — Let us move out of the United States to down South. New Zealand’s Northern Island has flights grounded, roads closed, and power outages in the first snowfall in 40 years.

Blizzards hit the South Island before moving northward into the more populated North Island.

“This is the first snowfall in over 40 years for this region,” said TheWeatherSpace Senior Meteorologist Kevin Martin. “Looking at the upper air charts this cold spell will last for another couple of days, till around Wednesday night.”

Christchurch, an area plagued by major earthquakes in the last year, was among the populated zones to be affected by the snowfall.

“Usually rare events around the world such as this one and the new tropical storm record (article here) means that an usual pattern will hit this Winter across the world not seen in around 50 years,” said Martin.

to read more, go to:    http://www.theweatherspace.com/news/TWS-08_16_2011_newzealandsnow.html

Maori Justice Model

Righting Wrongs the Maori Way

by Allan MacRae, Howard Zehr

Instead of prison, New Zealand chooses restorative justice and community problem-solving.

During the 1980s, New Zealand faced a crisis familiar to other Western nations around the world. Thousands of children, especially members of minority groups, were being removed from their homes and placed in foster care or institutions. The juvenile justice system was overburdened and ineffective. New Zealand’s incarceration rate for young people was one of the highest in the world, but its crime rate also remained high. At the same time, New Zealand’s punitive approach was also in part a “welfare” model. Although young people were being punished, they were also being rewarded by receiving attention. Yet they were not being required to address the actual harm they had caused.

Especially affected was the minority Maori population, the indigenous people of New Zealand. Maori leaders pointed out that the Western system of justice was a foreign imposition. In their cultural tradition, judges did not mete out punishment. Instead, the whole community was involved in the process, and the intended outcome was repair. Instead of focusing on blame, they wanted to know “why,” because they argued that finding the cause of crime is part of resolving it. Instead of punishment (“Let shame be the punishment” is a Maori proverb), they were concerned with healing and problem-solving. The Maori also pointed out that the Western system, which undermined the family and disproportionately incarcerated Maori youth, emerged from a larger pattern of institutional racism. They argued persuasively that cultural identity is based on three primary institutional pillars—law, religion, and education—and when any of these undermines or ignores the values and traditions of the indigenous people, a system of racism is operating.

Maori leaders pointed out that the Western system of justice was a foreign imposition. In their cultural tradition, the whole community was involved in the process.

Because of these concerns, in the late 1980s the government initiated a process of listening to communities throughout the country. Through this listening process, the Maori recommended that the resources of the extended family and the community be the source of any effort to address these issues. The FGC [Family Group Conference] process emerged as the central tool to do this in the child protection and youth justice systems.

 

to read more, go to: http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/beyond-prisons/righting-wrongs-the-maori-way