A series of shallow earthquakes is the “new normal” in Christchurch

[ad_1]

Things

The city was hit by a series of mild earthquakes early Friday, including two above magnitude 4.

The seismologist says the series of light earthquakes in Christchurch are part of “Canterbury’s new normal”.

A 3.7-magnitude earthquake struck at 7.31am on Friday, according to GeoNet, followed six minutes later by a stronger quake with a magnitude of 4.4 on the Richter scale.

Both struck 10km northeast of the city off the coast of New Brighton, the first at a depth of 10km and the second at a depth of 8km, which is considered quite shallow.

A similar earthquake, measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale, occurred at 2.21 am at the same location at a depth of 9 km.

Read more: *Christchurch has been rocked by a series of shallow quakes *Six magnitude 5+ earthquakes in one month, in three different areas, nothing unusual

supplied / GeoNet

Five shallow earthquakes have struck near Christchurch in the last 15 hours, including a magnitude 4.3 earthquake.

GNS seismologist John Restau said earthquakes “will be what we call the new normal in Canterbury”.

Since the earthquakes in September 2010, more than a decade ago, he said there has been a series of aftershocks going on.

“Before the Darfield earthquakes, there was not a great deal of seismic activity on the Canterbury Plains, but since then there has been an increasing level of seismic activity.”

The largest group of earthquakes, he said, could still cause “their small aftershocks somewhere in the mid-30s.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if there were earthquakes over the next day or two, about 3 magnitudes that people might feel,” he said, before things calmed down.

“These earthquakes are a good reminder to people in Christchurch that things have changed since 2010.

“Always be earthquake prepared for something bigger that could happen.”

This message is not just from Canterbury, Resto said, but for all of New Zealand.

RNZ

Earthquakes are part of daily life in Aotearoa, but we don’t have an early warning system, unlike many places around the world. (First published June 17, 2022)

Thousands of people reported feeling the quake across the country on Friday, according to GeoNet, and many of them described what they felt online.

One person said the final vibrations were as if “someone was perpetually shaking my bed for 10 seconds or so”, while another said “there was a nice little 4.2 vibration here in Christchurch…the creaking of windows and a very real sense of motion”.

I’m now on the ‘Is showering safe?'” Ashley Campbell said. “Earthquake alertness level.”

Two more light earthquakes occurred in the same area on Thursday – one of magnitude 2.7 at 6.40pm and had a depth of 7km and the other of magnitude 3.0 at 5.54pm.

[ad_2]