M 6.5 Earthquake - Taupo - 5/7/11

[CHCH Weather Chaser]

6.5 magnitude earthquake 30km west of Taupo but fortunately 150km deep! Was felt here also, I wondered if it was a big one at a distance because it was like being on a boat and made no noise like all the local ones do. Gentle rock that made the cups on the hanger move slightly.

[Tornado Tim]

More info on that quake: http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/qua ... 0736g.html

I didnt feel a thing........

[Manukau heads obs]

those central NI quakes are often very deep like that (good thing too)

[David]

Quite big but certainly a deep one! Interesting that a lot of reports are from the Wairarapa & Wellington regions, the seismic waves must travel southwards quite efficiently compared to other directions?

[Manukau heads obs]

people on the same fault lines or adjacent fault lines will feel it. e.g right through to the SI
that is why though it was not felt as much up this way

[Tornado Tim]

My Sister in Palmy felt it, everything was shaking for around 15-30 secs she said.

[CHCH Weather Chaser]

Here shaking was less than 10 seconds and felt like a magnitude 2.5 if I was to put it like that. Apparently it was felt most on the East Coast of the NI with MM6

[Nev]

Apparently it was felt most on the East Coast of the NI with MM6

Not so much the East Coast as most of the lower NI. The current MM6 reports come from Wgtn (probably within its swaying high-rises), which seems fairly typical of these sorts of quakes.

[Storm Struck]

Nice to hear it was deep wouldnt have been nice if it was say 10km deep, do the volcanoes get affected by such deep quakes?
Geo Net seems to think there wont be any aftershocks from this quake because its so deep, sounds abit odd to me

[Manukau heads obs]

see the GNS image above re deep eaerthquakes that I posted
they are common in the central NI
fault line related. not volcanic related

[jamie]

was in Horahora (down past karipiro) driving and didnt feel a thing there.

[03Stormchaser]

Felt in a 2nd storey building in chch at work.

[03Stormchaser]

Geo Net seems to think there wont be any aftershocks from this quake because its so deep, sounds abit odd to me

Why? its not uncommon to have a large quake deep in that area not followed by aftershocks. Its been happening for year like that!

[Manukau heads obs]

nice graphic of felt area from stuff.co.nz

[David]

nice graphic of felt area from stuff.co.nz

That's from geonet
http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/qua ... -maps.html

[borris89]

Felt here in Hawkes Bay as about 10 seconds of 'shuddering' then maybe 20-30 seconds of the usual rolling that comes from these deep quakes. Didn't feel as big as one that occured in summer though, which i thing was only ~5.9.

[Tornado Tim]

Welcome Sesmic/Volcanic Forum!

[bmo]

Looking very active since the quake.
Apparently according to an article i just read (will try and find the link) the small quakes are of volcanic origin...
Article has been deleted after someone posted the explanation of geonet...

[Willoughby]

Apparently according to an article i just read (will try and find the link) the small quakes are of volcanic origin...
Article has been deleted after someone posted the explanation of geonet...

Put the link from your history and search for it in Google Cache, it should turn up a result.

Melbourne was also struck earlier today, reports are interesting: http://www.news.com.au/national/earth-t ... 6087953701

[tgsnoopy]

Thanks for the Melbourne link Foggy.

Mt. Ruahepo! LOL. Hmm, I think I'd be far more worried about Mt Tauhara or the Taupo Volcano's. Ruapehu didn't even figure in it for me.

[bmo]

I'll say this my nightmare is that The Taupo Super-volcano will blow one day. If that happens we'll all be turned to 'ash'.

[tgsnoopy]

I dunno about being turned to ash, but it would be a very deadly event for sure.

How fast could we evacuate to Aus or further?

I recall reading that it's thought a lot of the hills as far North as Maramarua are Taupo ejecta. Imagine just the flooding from Lake Taupo's contents running down through the Waikato followed by deep ash at a minimum.

Apparently Tauhara is a much bigger risk as it'll just explode, wheras Taupo with it's collapsed caldera will now just erupt.

Sobering, but not worth dwelling on, I doubt it will happen in our lifetime.

[Manukau heads obs]

the coastal cliffs here have 1 foot layer of taupo ash from some big eruption 1000's of years ago....

[tgsnoopy]

For what it's worth, if I recall correctly for us, the biggest risk is the Okataina complex, specifically Haroharo Dome. There was a good publication on it:

Okataina Volcanic Centre

[Manukau heads obs]

scary stuff