New Zealand is a state located in Polynesia in the southwest of the Pacific Ocean. It consists of two large islands - the South and the North, as well as a huge number of small islands, the number of which reaches 700. Most of them are uninhabited.
Two-plate archipelago
Located at the junction of two lithospheric plates, the Pacific and Australian, the archipelago for many millennia has undergone complex geological processes. This is due to the fact that two plates move in opposite directions, causing strong friction. As a result, the structure and shape of the earth's crust is constantly changing. The islands of New Zealand are formed not only as a result of volcanic emissions, but also as a result of discharges. The bark of the archipelago has a complex composition of rocks of different ages and contents.
Earthquakes as a permanent occurrence
The answer to the question of whether earthquakes in New Zealand is often astounding. Here the number of earthquakes is up to 15,000 per year! They occur mainly on the South Island. About 250 of them are classified as medium or strong, the rest are insignificant. The most powerful earthquake was recorded in 1855 - it claimed 256 human lives.
November earthquake of 2016
At midnight local time (Moscow time - at 14:00), on the night of November 13-14, a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.8 began. Its epicenter was located near the city of Christchurch, on the southern island of the Canterbury region. Its epicenter was at a depth of 10 meters, 57 km from the city of Amberley and 97 from the city of Christchurch.
During the earthquake, eyewitnesses say that numerous blue-green flashes were seen in the sky. Scientists are sure that these lightning caused friction that occurs when rocks move.
The disaster killed two people. Dozens more were injured. The population was saved by the fact that the epicenter of the earthquake was in a deserted area.
40 minutes after the first powerful blow, two more tremors occurred, the magnitude of which was 6.2 and 5.7 points. Smaller shocks were felt throughout the day.
The earthquake in New Zealand caused not only multiple repeated small shocks, but also tsunamis, landslides and other cataclysms.
New Zealand is located on the so-called ring of fire, which extends over 40 km and is a zone of volcanoes and tectonic faults. That is why 90% of all earthquakes on Earth occur here, 80% of which are quite powerful.
The aftermath of the 2016 earthquake
The earthquake in New Zealand is felt differently. Now Auckland has avoided powerful shocks, there was only a slight swing that was not noticed by people, while Amberley and Christchurch fully felt these blows. As a result, multiple concomitant natural disasters.
Below we look at the consequences of the latest earthquake in New Zealand.
- The bottom of the ocean became land. Immediately after the incident, it became known that the coastline of the South Island increased by 5.5 meters due to the ocean floor, which turned into land. Thus, part of Papatea Bay was cut off from the ocean. Algae, dead fish and crabs remained on the drained bottom.
- Wall by the ocean. Also, as a result of the cataclysm, an almost two-meter wall was knocked out of the ocean floor. In this way, mountains were formed over hundreds of years - because of the tightness, part of the rocks between the two plates was knocked out of the ground. The alien landscape aroused incredible interest among the local population.
- New Zealand has cracked into 6 parts. The power of the earthquake caused the formation of new faults in the northern part of the South Island. Thus, the balance of tectonic forces in this part of the island has shifted significantly. At the moment, geologists cannot understand what this phenomenon is fraught with - it either released stress points, or, on the contrary, created new ones.
- After the earthquake, geologists circled the archipelago in order to assess the magnitude of the disaster. As a result, 6 “scars” were revealed on the earth’s crust, 4 of which go deep into the sea, and 2 are formed on land. Research will help you know whether New Zealand should be wary of powerful shocks in the future.
- Tsunami. Two-meter tsunami waves were discovered in the Wellington area of Castle Point. Inhabitants of coastal towns were informed about the danger and recommended to retire deep into the island.
New Zealand earthquake - future disaster
Geophysicists are currently exploring the possibility of catastrophic earthquakes that could occur on the archipelago in the coming decade.
Specialists came to the conclusion that the danger of this is quite high, since the temperature in the Alpine fault today is much higher than before. Each kilometer in the depths of the fault, the temperature rises by an average of 125 degrees. This suggests that matter is transported from the bowels of the Earth, which can provoke a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of more than 8 points. Even in spite of the fact that such a “shake-up” is not rare for the population of the archipelago, an earthquake of such a high magnitude can cause enormous damage and lead to human casualties.
When to expect?...
Geologists predict that a disaster can occur within 10-20 years.
By the way, the most powerful earthquake in modern history occurred in 1717. Rocks shifted 400 km. The incident caused the death of many people. As geologists have noted, earthquakes of this power are repeated every 200-300 years, which forces them to study the state of tectonic plates more thoroughly today.