Friday, 16 August 2013

More on NZ quake

Strong quake rocks central New Zealand
Queues of traffic evacuating Wellington


16 August, 2013


LATEST: City workers are fleeing Wellington after a severe earthquake rocked central New Zealand this afternoon.

Geonet said the quake stuck at 2.31pm and measured 6.2, 10km south east of Seddon at a depth of 8km. Initial reports said the quake was 6.9.

There was no tsunami threat to New Zealand, Civil Defence said and civil defence headquarters had not been activated.

Workers were leaving their buildings and queues of traffic were forming out of the capital.Roads leading to highways out of Wellington, including Jervois Quay and Boulcott St, were snarled with traffic delays.

THE CITY GROANED

On Wellington's waterfront, cranes swayed and the city seemed to groan.

Joggers stopped in their tracks and struggled to stand. Amanda Beeslaar, a visitor from Auckland, said the quake was ''terrifying''.

''It felt like a jet plane coming over and them it just started shaking. I thought the earth was going to open up.''

Sam Stanley was in the NZX building when the quake hit.

''I feel a bit queasy, it was swaying so much. I waited about ten seconds and got under my table, then we decided to get out.''

AFTERSHOCKS

A magnitude 5.7 aftershock centred 5km southeast of Seddon and 8km deep hit about six minutes later.

Another large aftershock, magnitude 5.6, struck at 2.45pm. It was centred 15km southeast of Seddon at a depth of 5km.

A quake closer to Wellington struck at 2.50pm. Geonet said the 4.8 magnitude quake was 15km south of the city at a depth of 5km.

MARLBOROUGH SHAKEN

State Highway 1 between Blenheim and Kaikoura has been closed.

There were initial reports of severe building damage in the Seddon area and parts of Marlborough.

People were leaving town, walking down the middle of the street to avoid buildings and power lines. Train services were halted.

A spokeswoman for St John's southern communications centre said ambulance crews had responded to a fall in Blenheim following the quake, but it was not known if it was related to the shake.

Staff were "not particularly busy" otherwise, but had been checking stations around the South Island.

"Everyone's OK," she said.

Early reports of a collapsed house in Seddon proved to be incorrect.

INFRASTRUCTURE HIT

Telecom said there was major congestion on phone lines of all major networks and urged users to text not call. Phone lines were being checked for damage.

All train services in the Wellington and marlborough regions were cancelled.

Wellington Airport has reopened after a runway inspection. Wellington's City Gallery has been evaculated, pending a building inspection.

Trading on all markets on the New Zealand stock exchange has been halted. Bringing a halt to trading was a rare occurrence, she said, and hadn't needed to be done during other recent tremors in the area.

'GET OUT, GET OUT'

Shoppers ran from Karori Mall when one massive shake cut off the power, which has since been restored.

''I was in the Salvation Army store and I didn't realise how big it was at first,'' one teenaged shopper said.

"No one really realised it was happening and then there was one really big shake and the power went off,'' Tess Norquay said.

''One woman yelled an urgent 'get out, get out'.''

Shoppers were milling around in the street, and once they calmed down they drove home, she said.

When she got home books had fallen from the shelves. There were hundreds of ''felt it'' reports on the Geonet website, including reports as far south as Dunedin and as far north as Auckland.

Michael Brennan of Seatoun, Wellington, was sitting watch the TV when the quake struck.

"I looked out the window and Bella [the cat] came running through the cat door. The house just started swaying and shaking. I thought 'Is this going to be it or what?'. Then it just tapered off. I think it must have nearly split the country in half."

EARTHQUAKE SWARM

The Seddon area has been the centre of seismic activity since the day before a magnitude 6.5 quake struck on July 21.GNS

Science seismologist Stephen Bannister said that quake had released energy equivalent to 100 nuclear bombs of the size released on Hiroshima.

"If it had been under the city we would have been looking at equal damage or close to what happened in Christchurch."

There have been hundreds aftershocks since then.They continued to rumble in Seddon last night, with a magnitude 4.4 earthquake shaking the area at 7pm.

It was quickly followed by a magnitude 2.4 and magnitude 3 in the same spot.


Very Strong shallow earthquake / aftershock near Seddon, South Island, New Zealand – Wellington shaken also


16 August, 2013




Update 07:10 UTC : Nothing really new since our 06:08 update. The NZ press is mainly zooming in to small stories of the panic and the secondary effects like heavy traffic, experience reports of minor damage etc. All the aftershocks of M2.9 or greater will be listed below.
Update 06:08 UTC : One building south of Seddon nearly collapsed by the mainshock. Some others in Marlborough region were also severly damaged, while the damage on North Island (Wellington region) is only minor.
Update 06:01 UTC : GeoNet has changed the data to Magnitude 6.0. USGS and EMSC give Magnitude 5.9 (USGS expecting a heavy intensity again). The epicenter location is again close to Seddon, the quake was felt in many parts of New Zealand. New damage is likely.
In the meantime buildings in Seddon were ckcked for damage by the mainshock. Many of the buildings were damaged, mainly fallen chimneys and cracked walls and roofs are reported. No building collapsed, nobody was injured.
Update 05:38 UTC : Another very strong quake with Magnitude 6.3 hit this are a couple of minutes ago, according to GeoNet. These data are still prelimimary.
Update 05:28 UTC : Two injured people were carried to a hospital in Blenheim. There are not many details about the kind of injuries but reports indicate they are only minor.
Update 04:43 UTC : Taken into account the strong Magnitude and the extremely shallow Hypocenter,  we are happy that no injuries and even fatalities have been reported. Also the damage is within an acceptable range as no houses really collapsed. The slight to moderate damage will however be reported in big numbers. The most reports will come from Seddon, followed by Blenheim and then by Wellington.
Update 04:32 UTC : GNS Science has recalculated the data and is now reporting an updated value of M6.6 !
Update 04:32 UTC : NZ Media are starting to exaggerate : Monster Quake hit … We can truly say that this was a big quake but not a monster quake. Based on security camera images we saw some moderate shaking in Wellington.
Update 04:25 UTC : The biggest damage should be looked at in the Seddon area. Gradually Seddon information and pictures are reaching us, like the one below from Seddon. Unsafe to live in, it will probably get a RED STICKER on the door from the NZQC after inspection.
Twitter image courtesy and copyright from @breakfastsam
Twitter image courtesy and copyright from @breakfastsam
Update 04:15 UTC : A house has been badly damaged in Ward, south of Seddon + some power lines down in the Seddon area
Update 04:06 UTC : SH 1 currently closed between Blenheim and Kaikoura. Check NZTA website for latest highway conditions:
http://t.co/d6e18GP2XW
Update 04:02 UTC : A number of people have been freed from lifts in the Wellington CBD which stopped when the quake struck.
Update 04:00 UTC : Earlier reports of a collapsed house in between Blenheim and Seddon looked to be incorrect. So far only a lot of slight damage in the Marlborough area (Seddon, Blenheim etc) and also in the Wellington area.
Typical picture after such an earthquake. A supermarket in Wellington !
Screen Shot 2013-08-16 at 05.54.01
Twitter image courtesy and copyright @LivLacey
Update 03:52 UTC : The NZ Stock Exchange has been reopened again
Update 03:46 UTC : Damage like the picture below will occur in many places. The NZ Earthquake Commission will have a lot of work the following days to follow up the many filed damage reports.
Screen Shot 2013-08-16 at 05.46.10
Twitter image courtesy and copyright @menabassily NZ
Update 03:44 UTC :  The NZ stock exchange has stopped trading. About 600 customers are reportedly without power in Makara, Wrights Hill and Wainuiomata following the quake
Update 03:44 UTC : The earthquake has been felt all over both islands. Power is still on the Wellington CBD (Central Business District) and traffic is flowing normally, however some power lines are reported to be down and there are problems with some phones.
Tranzmetro has suspended all its rail and bus services in Wellington and Wellington Airport advises the runway is temporarily closed for inspection following the quake.
Update 03:42 UTC : Focal Mechanism in line with the earlier Cook Strait M6.5 earthquake if based on USGS FM
Screen Shot 2013-08-16 at 05.40.31
Update 03:38 UTC : South of Blenheim, towards Seddon, roads are partially blocked by rockfalls and are cracked in some areas.
Update 03:34 UTC : Luckily only reports of what we call “minor damage” in the New Zealand press so far. Minor damage is like broken windows, cracks in walls, fallen tiles etc.
Update 03:31 UTC : What strikes us in the New Zealand press is that all of them are talking about a “Wellington” earthquake and not about a Seddon earthquake . The distance to Wellington is far greater than to Seddon.
Update 03:27 UTC : We expect most damage in the whole North Eastern part of the South Island with some slight damage even at the south of the North Island. Seddon, only located at 10 km of the epicenter is most at risk for damage followed by Blenheim.
Update 03:22 UTC : Based on what we experienced with the M6.5 mainshock a little while ago a chain of aftershocks in the same area may be expected.
Update 03:20 UTC : A lot of different data below like USGS who reports a M6.8 at a depth of 10.6 km. We prefer however tu use the Geonet / GNS science data who are reporting M6.2 at a depth of 8 km. Even more a difference in epicenter location. The preliminary USGS value is putting the epicenter more below land vs the Geonet versions who is locating the epicenter also below land but close to the coast.
Update 03:18 UTC : these aftershocks will go on for quiet some time ane very strong ones are being possible.
Update : The seismogram below reveals a long chain of powerful aftershocks, some of them more than M5.
Screen Shot 2013-08-16 at 05.09.35
Very dangerous aftershock below land in New Zealand. Epicenter is very different with each reporting agency. Geonet New Zealand is locating the epicenter at the land-tip of the South Island. The earlier mainshock and most of the aftershocks were located in the sea.
Image courtesy Geonet New Zealand
Image courtesy Geonet New Zealand
10 km south-east of Seddon
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 6.2
Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-08-16 14:31:05
GMT/UTC Time : 2013-08-16 02:31:05
Depth (Hypocenter)  : 8 km
Depth and Magnitude updates in the list below.



Map data ©2013 Google Imagery ©2013 TerraMetrics
Map
Satellite
SRCLocationUTC Date/timeMDINFO
GEONETSeddonAug 16 07:234.614MAP I Felt It INFO
GEONETSeddonAug 16 07:212.85MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 07:203.010MAP I Felt It
GEONETWellingtonAug 16 07:183.69MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 07:183.59MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 07:134.013MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 07:103.722MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 07:063.818MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 07:023.614MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 07:003.224MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:555.520MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:534.918MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:503.05MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:483.515MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:473.55MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:425.220MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:405.224MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:383.36MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:363.75MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:333.722MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:273.05MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:273.713MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:243.412MAP I Felt It
GEONETBlenheimAug 16 06:233.610MAP I Felt It INFO
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:213.712MAP I Felt It
GEONETBlenheimAug 16 06:202.913MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:163.612MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:132.95MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:084.116MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:062.86MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 06:043.05MAP I Felt It
GEONETBlenheimAug 16 06:032.710MAP I Felt It
EMSCCook Strait, New ZealandAug 16 05:574.712MAP I Felt It
USGSBlenheim, New ZealandAug 16 05:574.712MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:575.15MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:565.010MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:533.25MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:513.810MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:494.523MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:463.67MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:432.35MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:423.737MAP I Felt It
GEONETWellingtonAug 16 05:414.15MAP I Felt It
GEONETWellingtonAug 16 05:374.610MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:373.710MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:344.412MAP I Felt It
USGSBlenheim, New ZealandAug 16 05:315.910MAP I Felt It
EMSCCook Strait, New ZealandAug 16 05:315.910MAP I Felt It
GEOFONCook Strait, New ZealandAug 16 05:315.921MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:316.014MAP I Felt It
GEONETPictonAug 16 05:306.224MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:296.211MAP I Felt It
USGSBlenheim, New ZealandAug 16 05:264.615MAP I Felt It
EMSCCook Strait, New ZealandAug 16 05:264.616MAP I Felt It INFO
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:264.910MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:244.65MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:223.511MAP I Felt It INFO
GEONETWellingtonAug 16 05:192.431MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:154.16MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:144.122MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:122.812MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:083.112MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:063.412MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:052.934MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 05:024.35MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:583.68MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:563.88MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:524.119MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:503.66MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:492.911MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:463.65MAP I Felt It
GEONETBlenheimAug 16 04:423.46MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:402.825MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:372.910MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:323.57MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:312.834MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:303.05MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:272.95MAP I Felt It
GEONETWellingtonAug 16 04:253.8144MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:243.95MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:233.612MAP I Felt It INFO
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:213.29MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:183.312MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:162.811MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:123.846MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:113.913MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:083.35MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:063.410MAP I Felt It
GEONETWellingtonAug 16 04:044.218MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:034.45MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:024.117MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 04:003.613MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:593.027MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:583.55MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:563.712MAP I Felt It
USGSBlenheim, New ZealandAug 16 03:515.510MAP I Felt It
EMSCCook Strait, New ZealandAug 16 03:515.510MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:515.619MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:493.65MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:473.112MAP I Felt It
GEONETPictonAug 16 03:463.121MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:423.76MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:393.86MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:373.85MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:353.88MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:343.45MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:304.316MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:294.440MAP I Felt It
EMSCCook Strait, New ZealandAug 16 03:264.721MAP I Felt It
USGSBlenheim, New ZealandAug 16 03:264.721MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:265.09MAP I Felt It INFO
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:254.926MAP I Felt It
EMSCCook Strait, New ZealandAug 16 03:215.017MAP I Felt It
USGSBlenheim, New ZealandAug 16 03:215.017MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:215.017MAP I Felt It
GEONETPictonAug 16 03:154.65MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:124.234MAP I Felt It
EMSCSouth Island Of New ZealandAug 16 03:095.48MAP I Felt It
GEOFONSouth Island, New ZealandAug 16 03:095.310MAP I Felt It
USGSBlenheim, New ZealandAug 16 03:095.910MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:085.58MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 03:064.65MAP I Felt It
GEONETBlenheimAug 16 03:033.235MAP I Felt It
EMSCCook Strait, New ZealandAug 16 02:565.25MAP I Felt It
USGSBrooklyn, New ZealandAug 16 02:565.25MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 02:565.09MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 02:534.55MAP I Felt It
GEONETWellingtonAug 16 02:504.55MAP I Felt It
GEOFONCook Strait, New ZealandAug 16 02:455.010MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 02:455.46MAP I Felt It
EMSCCook Strait, New ZealandAug 16 02:455.715MAP I Felt It
USGSBlenheim, New ZealandAug 16 02:455.75MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 02:414.45MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 02:375.49MAP I Felt It
PTWCCook Strait New ZealandAug 16 02:356.810MAP I Felt It
USGSBlenheim, New ZealandAug 16 02:316.810MAP I Felt It
EMSCCook Strait, New ZealandAug 16 02:316.82MAP I Felt It
USGSBlenheim, New ZealandAug 16 02:316.810MAP I Felt It
GEOFONCook Strait, New ZealandAug 16 02:316.510MAP I Felt It
USGSBlenheim, New ZealandAug 16 02:316.510MAP I Felt It
GEONETSeddonAug 16 02:316.28MAP I Felt It INFO
  • tauranga - We own a lighting showroom and all the lights started to sway and are still doing so.No big shake mainly just the visual
  • gisborne - was more of a wave than a violent shake - could see the waves outside - freaky! So not shaking but a rolling earthquake.
  • feilding - earthquakes scare me so much i dread everyone
  • Motueka - Earthquake felt for a long time.
  • Marton - Looked down and table was moving, everyone got under their desks and could all feel the shaking.
  • tuahiwi - heard, felt and left lights gently swaying
  • Hokitika - Sitting in a classroom at Kaniere School. Seemed to go on for at least 20-30 seconds.
  • New Plymouth - It seemed very long and the blinds in my office shook violently from side to side. They continue to shake gently every couple of minutes.
  • Whanganui - A sort of Waving circular motion
  • Kaikoura - hard shaking side to side several aftershocks this is NOT NATURAL
  • Tauranga - 2.31pm
  • Havelock North - Wow! it went on for at least 2 minutes rolling like a wave
  • Hamilton, NZ - Felt this in Hamilton twice. One after the other. My office chair was rolling lightly on the floor... made me feel seasick.
  • Palmerston North - Long solid rocking. Felt chair I was sitting on rocking in my office. Went inside the house to hold the TV set in case it fell from table. Trees began moving. Neighbourhood dog began barking and car alarms went off.
  • Hamilton - House was swaying and shaking - thought it was just me getting dizzy (the general consensus of those who felt it here in hamilton).
  • Matamata - pictures moved and felt motion sickness
  • Christchurch - ChCh City COB Quite prominant side to side wobble easily noticed by seeing office desk moving giving the same feeling as going giddy.
  • Auckland - Very weak shake felt around 2.42 pm
  • Murupara - light fittings swinging and motion sickness still after event
  • Motueka - The shaking seemed to go on for quite a lot longer than recent Seddon quakes, but I think it was only for about a minute or so. Shaking was very strong so thought it must be close to surface and very bad in Seddon. No damage but one scared cat.
  • Wanganui - Felt like standing on water, Me and baby stood in door way
  • Motueka - Now seem to be getting regular 'shakes' at too frequent intervals. If we can feel them here in Motueka, then it must be pretty bad over the other side in Seddon and Blenheim.
  • Lichfield, Putaruru - Felt slightly off balanced no strong movements though, hanging ornament was swaying
  • Christchurch - Rocking sensation felt in Riccarton for about 30 seconds at around 2:30pm. Felt a few more since but that was definitely an earthquake shake!
  • Dannivirke - We were at assembly and I felt a earthquake I was sooo scared. It was the biggest earthquake I have ever felt!!
  • Stoke - I was in mitre10.co.nz stoke. strong shaking and very un nerving for the people in the shop the iron on the roof was rattling. some check out staff did not feel it.
  • Kirakira - My first experience - felt like a bump rather than a shake or tremor - sudden sharp alarming and ... Over in a millisecond.
  • Cambridge - Swaying motion - pendant lights and fans swaying, water in swimming pool sloshing.
  • WCATWCCook Strait New ZealandAug 16 02:316.89MAP I Felt It
    GEONETSeddonAug 16 02:052.514MAP I Felt It
    GEONETSeddonAug 16 01:332.37MAP I Felt It
    GEONETSeddonAug 16 01:182.79MAP I Felt It


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