Closer to home

— Posted inUncategorized — 2 min read

We've been rattled and shaken for the last few days. Now the latest biggish one felt too close to home …

http://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes/region/newzealand/2013p543824
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000iivv
http://info.geonet.org.nz/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=5799971

It was M6.5, supposed to be weaker than the M7 last year, but closer, so overall intensity was I would say about the same. The big one was followed closely by a dozen or so moderate ones. It took nearly 20 minutes for the feeling of standing on a unsteady, shaky floor went away. Arwen ran out, came back and ran out again at moderate aftershock 5 or 6. She has been back in since then but isn't demanding food. So must be still shaken but not stirred.

Hopefully that was the biggest one we have this stage. At least the birds in Otari Winton's bush are singing, unlike the birds in this story from dW, whose absence forewarned the locals but not the settlers. Hopefully a sign no devastating bigger quake will follow.


Source: http://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes/drums/wellington | screenshot taken at 17.43.40, Sunday, 21 July, 2013

Update 1815, Tuesday, 23 July
Apparently there have been over 1000 quakes recorded since Friday morning. Still Rock&Rolling! 😎 :headbang:

Below is a map of Cook Strait with known fault lines and visual representation of all recent quakes. Our scientists now believe a previously unknown extension of London Hills Fault might be the source of what is now called the Cook Strait earthquakes (fka the Seddon sequence).
Source: http://info.geonet.org.nz/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=5800119

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  1. Nice picture :)We have boring flat seismic activity indicators :(Originally posted by Mimi_s_mum:

    At least the birds in Otari Winton's bush are singing, unlike the birds in this story from dW, whose absence forewarned the locals

    Everything will be just fine when you have the nature around and observe it.

  3. Originally posted by derWandersmann:

    Glad you're OK.

    Exactly :happy: Happy to hear nothing more serious than stucked elevators happened. Read about it in Finnish news.

  4. Thanks, guys. Had a quite shaky night as expected. Can't say I slept well, but at least I don't need to commute to work, unlike most workers in Wellington. (Trains are not running ATM) It's been a couple of hours since the last noticeable shake. It might be just safe enough to have shower. :p Apparently the damages in lower, flatter parts of the region were considerably worse than around here. Roads closed due to risk of objects falling from building. Buildings evacuated. Shops closed. A part of a Port of Wellington wharf was subsided. One person got knocked out by a fallen TV :insane: Hopefully the last evening M6.5 was the biggest in this series, and serve to help us better prepared for the real big one. (I still haven't got the quake kit ready :o)

  5. 6.5? Wooha, that is quite powerful …Nice to read that you are well.As I live in a "quiet" area (all of the volcanoes that surround us are, while not dead but sleeping), the worst I experienced until today was a 4.5 – which is about 100 times weaker than yours was, I believe, and that was scary enough for me. I hope nothing too bad happened in your area …

  6. Thanks. Our area is up on the hill. So I imagine the ground is pretty solid here. But in down town, things seem quite different: http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8946467/Deserted-Wellington-CBD-streets-after-quakeOriginally posted by QuHno:

    As I live in a "quiet" area (all of the volcanoes that surround us are, while not dead but sleeping), the worst I experienced until today was a 4.5

    😆 We had a quite few of those overnight. 😉 (FYI 4.5 would have 1/100 of shaking amplitude and released 1/1000 of energy compared to 6.5)Having grown up in Tokyo I felt a quite few quakes. Luckily none was close enough to cause much damage to our home or neighbourhood. This 6.5 and the deep far 7 last year were actually the most violent shakes I have felt so far in my life. I do hope it stays that way, but … :insane:

  8. Hoo, boy! I think I would seriously think about sleeping in a rubber raft, out in the yard.

  9. Seems the worst is over for now. Last night our quake experts were estimating approx 20% chance of another M6 or greater occurring in the next 24 hours, and 30% chance in the next week. They have revised the figures down to 8% and 20%, respectively. 🙂

  10. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    Seems the worst is over for now.

    I hope so :worried:

  11. Earthquakes are a part of life in countries like Japan and New Zealand. They never go away. We'll happily get on with our lives as soon as the boat stops rocking and rolling. 😉

  12. :yes: I guess that is the cost you have to pay for living in such a beautiful places :cheers:

  15. :insane:Around here, if someone drops a rock a mile away everyone would panic! :pWe just don't get much seismic activity in KZN. :happy:Up in Jo'burg, they have 'earth tremors' due to the mining activity. They feel a lot worse than they are though. Scares the hell out of visitors who've never experienced one before! 😉

  16. Originally posted by qlue:

    We just don't get much seismic activity in KZN.

    Lucky you! :cheers: (Isn't it a bit boring, though? :p)The mining related shakes sound rather unnerving. I do get a bit tense at every passing of heavy vehicles, which can vibrate the windows just like a primary shaking of earthquake. Actually the defence force decided to have a 21 gun salute celebrating the birth of Kate & Will's royal baby (, which I'm personally calling the BOW (the baby of Windsor :p). This is what our mayor had to say about it,

    Given that quite a lot of people are jumpy after the quakes of the past few days, we appreciate the warning.

    Seems the birth of BOW had some calming power over the quakes, though. There was only one shake last night strong enough to wake me. Hopefully this trend continues so that we can have better night sleep.

  17. Everybody knows that big loud bangs drive away the evil earth ghosts/dragons/lions/gnomes/whatever 😀

  18. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    Isn't it a bit boring, though? )

    Nah! We have floods, heatwaves and an annual municipal worker strike! 😉 :POriginally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    The mining related shakes sound rather unnerving. I do get a bit tense at every passing of heavy vehicles, which can vibrate the windows just like a primary shaking of earthquake.

    The weird thing is that they're so common that you actually don't notice them if you live there! You only realise there was a tremor when your guest from the Cape or from KZN freaks out for no apparent reason! :lol:They don't usually cause any damage, they just rattle the windows a bit! So the grow very accustomed to them over time! :left:Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    Seems the birth of BOW had some calming power over the quakes, though. There was only one shake last night strong enough to wake me. Hopefully this trend continues so that we can have better night sleep.

    :up:

  19. Bad luck for Charles. British Kings are called George by tradition.(Exceptions only prove the rule :D)They'll skip him and William and go directly to George VII. :knight:

  20. Originally posted by QuHno:

    Everybody knows that big loud bangs drive away the evil earth ghosts/dragons/lions/gnomes/whatever

    :yes: And oaks, trolls and necromancer! (Wellington has a lot of them alongside some dragons, at Peter Jackson's Miramar studio 😉

  21. I can imagine the headlines now if he happens to put on weight… "Georgie Pordgy is at it again…" :p

  22. Originally posted by qlue:

    You only realise there was a tremor when your guest from the Cape or from KZN freaks out for no apparent reason!

    😆 AKA imported shake detectors?Originally posted by qlue:

    We have floods, heatwaves and an annual municipal worker strike!

    That's eventful enough. :up: Apparently the BOW has already been named. I was hoping I could make a few more BOW jokes. Never mind. George's not a bad name. :king:

  23. Originally posted by qlue:

    "Georgie Pordgy is at it again…"

    😆 😆 :lol:Originally posted by QuHno:

    Bad luck for Charles. British Kings are called George by tradition.(Exceptions only prove the rule )

    😀 Not sure if he thinks it a bad luck. To me he and his children are all enjoying the freedom of not being in the throne.

  24. Oh, they get their fair share of royal duty too. The queen can't be everywhere and so the other royals have to visit the usual occasions like opening of hospitals, beneficiary parties, military parades etc …

  25. I know about their duties. What I wondered about was whether they would be allowed to continue being patron of all those organisations, especially the ones for humanitarian/environmental causes (meaning possibly perceived as non-patriot or anti-business).

  27. Animals know this simple truth: when there's an earthquake, be somewhere else.

  29. Thanks, guys. It seems a little quieter now. The last "good" shake was just before 7pm and was M5.5. But there's a good chance of having another M6+ in next 24 hours. Actually the seismologists posted a 28% probability of M6 at 17.30 (http://info.geonet.org.nz/display/home/Cook+Strait+aftershocks+and+forecast+probabilities). And, sure enough, we had M6.0 at 17.31 :eyes: (http://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes/region/newzealand/2013p614135). So I'm expecting a sleepless night.And the cat is still outside. It's past her dinner time. Is she too scared to realise her stomach's empty? Or is she sensing something bigger is on the way? :insane:

  30. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    Or is she sensing something bigger is on the way?

    I hope that is not the case :worried:

  31. Luckily we had a more quiet night. :)The last "good" shake, the kind that makes you jump to your feet, around 20 to 9 last night. I went to bed about 11. And Arwen came back about 2.30 this morning, had food and slept on my bed. I think she got scared and hid somewhere, and fell asleep. Then woke up in early hours of morning finally realised she hadn't had dinner. :lol:All seem OK so far. But the seismologists' prognosis of 28% chance of another M6+ still stands. We'll see. :coffee:

  32. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    I think she got scared and hid somewhere, and fell asleep. Then woke up in early hours of morning finally realised she hadn't had dinner.

    Yes, food is a powerful motivator! 😆

  33. Originally posted by qlue:

    food is a powerful motivator!

    😆 Very true. And appetite is a great indicator of normality. Arwen was back to her normal self this morning demanding breakfast at the usual time. 🙂

  34. If the cat is back, then things must have settled down. Animals are the real seismographs.

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