Earthquake

GeoNet reports the quake hit five kilometres south of Te Aroha, at a depth of 7km, just after 5.30am. More than 20,000 people have reported feeling shaking.

A Pāpāmoa resident said she felt the quake at 5.49am and the whole house shook. ”I was asleep, and I woke up to the whole house shaking.” Kiwis on Twitter reported feeling the quake in Tauranga, Hamilton, Cambridge and Pukekohe.

A 5.1 magnitude earthquake has shaken the North Island on Wednesday morning. Geonet reported the earthquake struck 5km south of Te Aroha in Waikato at ...

The strong earthquake has a depth of 6km and was located 5km south of Te Aroha. A resident at Mount Maunganui who was woken by the quake says the sudden ...

"Quite sharp and sustained. It lasted a few seconds before stopping. Quite unnerving."

GeoNet reports three quakes occurred near the town of Te Aroha from about 5.39am this morning.

The third earthquake - also a 2.7 in magnitude and described as weak - occurred at 5.51am 5km southwest of Te Aroha at a depth of 5km. The strongest quakes since about 6am were a 3.9-magnitude at 11.21am and a 3.0-magnitude at 11.39am, both of which were 5km south of Te Aroha and at a depth of 5km. The second earthquake - a 2.7 in magnitude and described as weak - occurred a few minutes later at 5.47am 5km south of Te Aroha at a depth of 5km. The first earthquake - a 5.1 in magnitude and described as strong - occurred at 5.39am 5km south of Te Aroha at a depth of 7km. GeoNet said the quakes are likely on the same fault system and added the area last had a strong quake in 1972 - the 4.9-magnitude Te Aroha earthquake. Some described the 5.1-magnitude earthquake as "long and strong", with one person in Tauranga describing it as a "serious shake and roll".

Geonet shows that the quake was felt in the Auckland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Taranaki regions. The quake woke people across Tauranga. "Nothing ...

"Quite sharp and sustained. It lasted a few seconds before stopping. Quite unnerving."

WELLINGTON, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- A earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 jolted the Waikato district in the central part of New Zealand's North Island on ...

The quake occurred at 5.30 a.m. Many people said the quake was "pretty strong" and lasted "more than 20 seconds." local time, striking five kilometers south of Te Aroha, at a depth of seven kilometers, and more than 20,000 people reported feeling the jolt within one hour, according to GeoNet.

"The quakes are likely on the same fault system, the area last having a strong quake in 1972 with the magnitude 4.9 Te Aroha earthquake," the post says. A 1972 ...

In the event of a large earthquake: Drop, Cover and Hold.— GeoNet (@geonet) The 5.1 magnitude quake hit at a depth of 7km about 5km south of Te Aroha in the Waikato region at 5.39am. "It was a strong jolt in that it made me grab the edge of the bed to really hold on but as quickly as it started, it stopped." The quakes are likely on the same fault system, the area last having a strong quake in 1972 with the M4.9 Te Aroha earthquake, and a reminder that earthquakes can occur anywhere in New Zealand at any time. "The quakes are likely on the same fault system, the area last having a strong quake in 1972 with the magnitude 4.9 Te Aroha earthquake," the post says. "In the event of a large earthquake: Drop Cover and Hold."

WELLINGTON, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- A earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 jolted the Waikato district in the central part of New Zealand's North Island on ...

The quake occurred at 5.30 a.m. Many people said the quake was "pretty strong" and lasted "more than 20 seconds." local time, striking five kilometers south of Te Aroha, at a depth of seven kilometers, and more than 20,000 people reported feeling the jolt within one hour, according to GeoNet.

A strong magnitude 5.1 earthquake rocked upper North Island, with a report of a freezer rolling 30cm across...

This is assuredly the case with this one too." That was incredible – it ate cows and part of the railway line went into the ground." "If you laid concrete you would just wait and then see the little cracks appear. "I heard quite a big bang before the shake. "My little dog was shaking and whining, so I brought her to work. She said she hadn't felt the aftershocks but was aware there had been "a couple of decent ones". She said they had a couple of earthquakes in the last couple of weeks, but they're generally a rare occurrence. "The car started rocking and rolling, and I thought that was pretty windy, but I looked outside, and it was still." "The house didn't move, but it was shaking" "It was a good one, it was a rolling shake that went for a while. The shallow quake had a depth of seven kilometres and GeoNet classified it as "strong" in its preliminary report. Jan Llewell was working in one of the second hand shops and said a lot of dishes, crockery and glasses had fallen off shelves.

While considered seismically sleepy, eastern Waikato sits near a fault line that may have triggered Wednesday's 5.1M shake.

The current recommended action is to drop, cover, and hold. And while some portions of the system have been mapped, it is not as well documented or researched as other seismically prone areas elsewhere in the country, Ristau says. According to GNS, a fault that has moved once in the last 125,000 years is regarded as a source for potential future quakes. Constantly moving, the blocks move in relation to each other, sometimes with enough force to generate a jolt recorded as an earthquake. Those who felt the quake will have experienced motion known as “normal faulting”. So, why is it that the area is suddenly host to sizeable shakes? It’s difficult to say for certain whether it was on the Kerepehi fault itself without further work.” [paper](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00288306.2015.1127826) demonstrated that in the past earthquakes in the range of M6.3–7.0 have occurred and “should be considered with respect to future hazard and risk”. The geological area in which the Kerepehi fault is located is known as the Hauraki rift zone. Imperative to remember, he says, is that the likelihood of an even larger quake striking is highest immediately “after a large earthquake”, but that “the probability of a larger earthquake declines quickly over time”. [5km south of the Waikato township of Te Aroha](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300777642/51-magnitude-earthquake-rocks-upper-north-island-felt-in-auckland), and is the second quake to strike the area in less than a week, after a M3.9 shake rattled a similar location [on December 29.](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/130876175/damn-good-shake-for-waikato-and-auckland-with-m39-earthquake-in-te-aroha) “The earthquake occurred near the active Kerepehi Fault which is part of the Hauraki rift zone.