Re: 7.0 Quake New Zealand
Posted by
hanna on 9/3/2010, 3:00 pm
Strong earthquake rocks New Zealand's South Island 3 September 2010 Last updated at 14:41 ET
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake has struck off New Zealand's South Island, the US Geological Survey has said.
The epicentre was 55km (35 miles) north-west of Christchurch, at a depth of 12 km (7.5 miles), it added.
Police reported widespread minor damage and local power cuts. Christchurch is New Zealand's second largest city with a population of about 386,000. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said there was a risk of a tsunami along coasts within 100km of the epicentre.
New Zealand lies at the southern end of the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of active and dormant volcanoes stretching along the eastern edge of Asia, north across the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, and south along the coast of North and South America.
The country experiences more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, of which only around 20 have a magnitude in excess of 5.0. The last fatal earthquake was in 1968, when a 7.1-magnitude tremor killed three people on the South Island's western coast.
Shops 'demolished'
The earthquake struck at 0435 on Saturday local time (1635 GMT on Friday), the USGS said, when most people would have been asleep.
I thought a large truck had just driven through the front window" End Quote Susan Birkbeck Christchurch resident.
Radio New Zealand reported that the quake was felt as a long rolling motion lasting up to 40 seconds, and that the area was continuing to feel aftershocks. The USGS said one aftershock had a magnitude of 5.7.
The local newspaper, The Press, said it was felt widely across the South Island, including Christchurch and the nearby port city of Timaru.
Police said damage and power outages had been reported as far afield as Dunedin, 360km (223miles) to the south-west, it added.
"There is a row of shops completely demolished right in front of me," Colleen Simpson told The Press, adding that many people in Christchurch was out in the street in their pyjamas looking scared and worried.
Susan Birkbeck, who lives in the centre of the city, said: "It was absolutely shocking, we're all terrified and scared of what's going to happen next." "I was asleep when suddenly the house started shaking and there was this smashing sound, I thought a large truck had just driven through the front window." "I'm now sitting on my bed surrounded by broken glass and I've no idea what to do. The walls and roof are just hanging, it's terrifying," she added.
Barry in Ashburton, 86km (53 miles) west of Christchurch, told the BBC it was the strongest earthquake that he had ever experienced.
"Very strong aftershocks are still going here," he said. "In fact the moving has not really stopped since it started nearly an hour ago."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11183685
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Magnitude_7.2_earthquake_hits_New_Zealand
http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE6823PG20100903
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7.0 Quake New Zealand -
JAC,
9/3/2010, 2:13 pm Post A Reply
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