There were no immediate reports of damage after the initial quake struck at 2:29pm local time. The USGS registered the depth of the quake at 10km.
A second and lighter 3.4 tremor followed about 10 minutes later. It was located 20km west of Wanaka at a depth of 11km.
“There may be some minor damage in plastering” he said, but there was none he could see at that moment.
Local media is also reporting evacuation at the Wanaka Puzzling World attraction park.
“It was significant, we evacuated quick because we didn't know whether it was going to get worse,” Heidi Landsborough of Puzzling World said. “It was a bit difficult because we had a few people who thought it was part of the experience.”
GeoNet geohazards information manager Kevin Fenaughty told Fairfax NZ News that no structural damage is expected as a result of this earthquake. Moderate shaking was also felt in Dunedin, Alexandra and Queenstown on the South Island.
New Zealand partially lies on the eastern margin of the Australia plate which is one of the most seismically active areas of the world, due to the convergence of the Australia and Pacific plates.
http://rt.com/news/255305-earthquake-strikes-new-zealand/
4/5/15
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- M 6.0 - SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND....local time: 14:29
Magnitude M 6.0
Region SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND
Date time 2015-05-04 02:29:10.4 UTC
Location 44.54 S ; 168.83 E
Depth 5 km
Distances:
- 605 km SW of Wellington, New Zealand / pop: 381,900 / local time: 14:29:10.4 2015-05-04
- 198 km NW of Dunedin, New Zealand / pop: 114,347 / local time: 14:29:10.4 2015-05-04
- 31 km NW of Wanaka, New Zealand / pop: 4,428 / local time: 14:29:10.4 2015-05-04
4/5/15
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- M5.6 - 30km NW of Wanaka, New Zealand...
Time
- 2015-05-04 02:29:11 (UTC)
- 2015-05-04 05:29:11 (UTC+03:00)
Nearby Cities
- 30km (19mi) NW of Wanaka, New Zealand
- 57km (35mi) NNE of Queenstown, New Zealand
- 175km (109mi) N of Gore, New Zealand
- 178km (111mi) WNW of Oamaru, New Zealand
- 602km (374mi) SW of Wellington, New Zealand
4/5/15
6.0-magnitude earthquake shakes New Zealand ...
ReplyDeleteThe New Zealand ski resort towns of Queenstown and Wanaka were shaken by a 6.0-magnitude earthquake Monday.
No injuries have yet been reported after the quake, which struck at 2:29 p.m. local time, with its epicenter 30 km northwest of the tourist town of Wanaka, in the South Island, and at a depth of 5 km.
The government's GeoNet earthquake monitoring agency rated the quake's intensity as severe.
A moderate aftershock of 3.5-magnitude struck in the same place just eight minutes later.
Radio New Zealand reported that no damage had yet been reported and that witnesses said the shaking lasted for more than 15 seconds.
china.org.cn
4/5/15