Earthquake Felt in South Island

Posted on 16. Jul, 2009 by Georgie in Inside New Zealand, What's New?

An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, and causing a small tsunami (of 17 centimetres)  in the southern Fiordland region was felt last night.

New Zealand has between 10,000 and 15,000 earthquakes every year, so locals are used to feeling the earth move. This particular undersea quake was located about 160 kilometres west of the city of Invercargill, at a depth of about 35 kilometres. Residents hundreds of kilometres away from the epicentre reported items falling off shelves, but said there were no casualties or serious damage.

But last night’s tremors did rattle the nerves of South Islanders as the tremors lasted for several minutes.  Simon Wilson lives in the city of Invercargill and says the quake was unnerving.

“It went for a long time. It was sort of a rolling one, but it was quite a large motion that everything was moving,” he said.

Group co-ordinator Neil Cruickshank said that while there had been no reports of significant damage overnight, checks of bridges and roads would be undertaken this morning.

“While there has been disruption to electricity supplies, power companies reported no major problems, and the rail network is reported to be undamaged. Telephone services are operational,” he said.

New Zealanders live in a beautiful but demanding land – the challenges of coping with its rugged mountains, powerful rivers and extremes of weather have helped forge the national character. These natural forces that create the country’s stunning scenery do present  hazards, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, storms, floods and landslides.  However very few people have been killed in earthquakes in New Zealand.