2.5-magnitude earthquake off Whangarei, but no damage reported

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A map from GeoNet shows the earthquakes that have been recorded off Whangarei over the past year, the latest – on Monday – the top blue dot.

Few people are believed to have felt it, but a 2.5-magnitude earthquake struck Wangari on Monday.

GeoNet, which monitors seismic activity and other geological information, said it had not received any reports of people feeling the quake, which occurred at 7.10 pm on Monday, about 73 kilometers east of the city and at a depth of 5 kilometers.

And while the news of an earthquake in Northland – the region with the least risk of seismic activity in New Zealand – may come as a surprise to many, it’s more common than people might think, as the 10th round has occurred in the past 12 months.

A GeoNet spokesperson said: ‘Using our QuakeSearch tool – https://quakesearch.geonet.org.nz/ – there have been a few earthquakes off the coast of Whangarei in the past 12 months’.

However, it is not understood that any of them may have caused harm.

For details on the recent earthquake, go to: www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/2021p973667.

While Northland has a low seismic risk, one of the major natural disaster risks is a tsunami from earthquakes offshore, with a string of tsunami sirens around its 2,700km coastline.

A tsunami evacuation order was issued for Northland on 5 March after the massive 8.1 magnitude earthquake in Kermadec. This alert saw tens of thousands of Northland residents, including about 15,000 from the central city of Whangarei, evacuated to higher ground.

Notable Northland earthquakes struck Maungatoroto in 1978 and a 4.3 earthquake struck in 1995. In December 2003, Maungatoroto and its surroundings were again shaken by a 4.4 earthquake at a depth of 12 km, and a swarm of six small earthquakes occurred near Taku Bay in September 2006.

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