Earthquake in New Zealand in 2016

New Zealand is a state that is located inPolynesia, in the southwest of the Pacific Ocean. It consists of two large islands - the Southern and Northern, and also a huge number of small islets, the number of which reaches 700. Most of them are uninhabited.

Archipelago on two plates

Being at the junction of two lithospheric plates,Pacific and Australian, the archipelago has been subjected to complex geological processes for many millennia. This is due to the fact that the two plates move in opposite directions, causing severe friction. As a result, the structure and shape of the earth's crust constantly changed. The islands of New Zealand are formed not only as a result of volcanic emissions, but also due to discharges. The bark of the archipelago has a complex composition of rocks of different ages and contents.

Earthquakes as a constant phenomenon

The answer to the question of whether earthquakes are oftenNew Zealand, is striking. 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, while others are insignificant. The strongest earthquake was recorded in 1855 - it took away 256 human lives.

November earthquake in 2016

At midnight local time (Moscow time)time - at 14:00), on the night of November 13 to November 14, a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 began. Its epicenter was not far from the city of Christchurch, which is on the southern island of the Canterbury region. The 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, numerous blue-green flashes were seen in the sky. Scientists believe that these lightning caused friction, which occurs when moving rocks.

As a result of the disaster two people were killed. Dozens more 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 impact, 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-calleda ring of fire that extends for 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.

Consequences of the earthquake in 2016

По-разному ощущается землетрясение в Новой Zealand. Now Auckland has avoided powerful tremors, only a slight swing, not noticed by people, was felt, while Amberly and Christchurch fully felt these blows. As a result, multiple accompanying natural disasters.

Below we will look at the consequences of the last earthquake in New Zealand.

• The bottom of the ocean became dry 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 dry land. Thus, part of the Papatea Bay was cut off from the ocean. On a dried day, there remained algae, dead fish and crabs.
• Wall on the shore of the ocean.As a result of the cataclysm, an almost two-meter wall was knocked off the ocean floor. This is how the mountains were formed over hundreds of years - because of the tightness, part of the rocks between the two slabs were knocked out from under the ground. Alien landscape has caused 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 significantly shifted. At the moment, geologists can not understand what this phenomenon is fraught with - either it has released the tension points, or, on the contrary, created new ones.
• After the earthquake, geologists circled the archipelago withto assess the scale of the disaster. As a result, six "scars" were found on the earth's crust, 4 of which go deep into the sea, and 2 are formed on land. Research will help to find out whether New Zealand should be afraid of powerful shocks in the future.
• Tsunami. Two-meter tsunami waves were found in Wellington, Castlepoint. Residents of coastal towns were informed of the danger and it is recommended to retire deeper into the island.

Earthquake in New Zealand - a future disaster

At present, geophysicists are exploring the possibility of catastrophic earthquakes that may occur on the archipelago in the next decade.

Experts came to the conclusion that the dangerthis is quite large, since the temperature in the Alpine fault today is much higher than before. In each kilometer in the depth of the fault, the temperature on average rises by 125 degrees. This suggests that transport of matter is carried out from the depths of the earth, which can provoke a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of more than 8 points. Even though for the population of the archipelago, such a "shake-up" is not a rare phenomenon, an earthquake of such a high magnitude can cause great damage and lead to human casualties.

When to expect?...

Geologists predict that a catastrophe can occur within 10-20 years.

By the way, the strongest earthquake formodern history occurred in 1717. The rocks shifted by 400 km. The incident caused the death of many people. As geologists have noted, earthquakes of similar power are repeated every 200-300 years, which makes them study the state of tectonic plates more thoroughly today.