Crikey!
This evening's earthquake was definitely the biggest one I've felt in my 14 years of living in EnZed.
I was at work by myself, finishing off some work on a website, when I felt a massive JOLT, and then a rolling, shaking sensation that must have gone on for at least a minute before tailing off. It was weird - I couldn't tell whether it had finally stopped and it was only me shaking, or if it was still going on - I felt all disorientated like you do when you get off a boat and the ground feels like it's still moving.
Sounds like it was pretty serious in Gisborne - masses of damage to stuff in people's homes, a few roofs caved in, power out for a while, holes in the road... scary stuff.
They reckon it was 6.8 on the Richter scale, with the epicentre out at sea about 50km south-east of Gisborne, and was only about 40km deep (that's pretty shallow as earthquakes go). You can fill in a report at the GeoNet website if you felt it.
The world media's onto it already - here are a few of the reports:
- Bloomberg - New Zealand Quake of 6.8 Is North Island's Biggest in 20 Years
- CNN - New Zealand rocked by huge quake
- Stuff - Major damage reports after quake rocks NZ
- The Guardian - Damage but no deaths as earthquake hits New Zealand
- The Telegraph - New Zealand roads ripped up by earthquake
I love how CNN gets all over-dramatic. It wasn't that huge, guys! It sounds as though (thankfully) no-one died or was seriously injured - mostly just a whole lot of stuff falling off shelves and some very shaken-up people on the East coast. And no tsunami! Yaay!
We're still waiting for The Big One. Touch wood it never happens...
Technorati tags: New Zealand, earthquake, Gisborne, December 20, damage, Richter scale, GeoNet, Wellington, WebWeaver's World, webweaver.
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