Rumble in the jungle

Strictly speaking, I am sort of a qualified geologist, not that it has done me much good. It has never got me any upgrades on flights, free meals or entry into a gentlemen's club. That said, it did allow me to spend too many years studying two of my favourite things - volcanoes and earthquakes.

New Zealand is a great spot for both and the volcano chapter will follow later. The big story at the moment though is earthquakes. Look at the earthquake scene on the right which is how the coast off Fiordland on the South Island looks at the moment. A few little shivers in the last week and certainly nothing exciting.

However, if we go back 10 days then the picture is very different. The big yellow square in the background is a huge earthquake with a Richter magnitude of 7.8 that struck at 9:22 pm NZ time on 15 July. Around it is a swarm of aftershocks and some of these were pretty big with a number measuring upwards of 5.5 and one coming in at 6.1.

A tsunami warning was issued immediately. There were fears for the south and west coast of the South Island of course but there was real concern for the coastlines of Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales in Australia considering the greater population density there. Lord Howe Island out in the Tasman Sea was at the highest level of alert but fortunately the wave that was generated was less than 20 cm high.

Some of our friends down on the south coast of the South Island felt the quake and I have to admit to being a little bit envious as I have felt the odd tremor here in the UK but have always wanted to experience a big rumble (as well as a hurricane and a tornado but that's a different story).

Mary Sutherland of Catlins Wildlife Trackers in Papatowai said "It was a big quake and went on for some time. It was enough for me to get under the door frame. No problems though, and even the jars of preserves stayed put on the shelf (I do have an earthquake measure in place though, I have curtain wire stretched across to keep the jars on the shelf and it worked!)."

Jenny Twaddle of Bay Motel right down south on Stewart Island reported that "We did feel the big quake and didn't know whether to be excited or frightened when a few ornaments fell off the shelves. The cat flew out the window, the dog and I stood in a doorway and my husband stayed in bed."

Scary stuff but exciting all the same. Like being an England or New Zealand cricket fan!

Thanks to the USGS for the earthquake maps and their website is a must have in your bookmarks. For New Zealand based tectonic fun and games then keep your eyes on Geonet.