Earthquakes, Volcanos, Landslips and Tsunami

New Zealand is a land of magnificence and beauty; a land of awesome landscapes, from glaciers, fiords, mountains and volcanoes to plains, rolling hills, subtropical forest and sandy beaches. It is also a land of geological excitement; a land of earthquakes, volcanoes, landslips and tsunami.

I felt my first earth tremor in New Zealand (leastways the first one I realised was an earthquake) last February. Now I know what is meant by the question "Did the earth move for you?" It did exactly that and it was a very odd feeling! Everyone will tell you that the first time is odd. They are correct. I filled in the report on the earthquake website we have in New Zealand. After a while the 'quake appeared on the site: http://www.geonet.org.nz/2691968g.html . The funny thing is that it's not the least bit scary. This one was over in a second or two anyway. And houses here are built for earthquakes and are not like UK houses at all.

I'm sure that over the next six months I will be mentioning things like Mt Ruapehu (a 'local' active volcano), thermal springs, earthquakes and much more. I hope that I never mention a tsunami. You can find out more about New Zealand's active geology at GeoNet.

If you would like more information on the geology of New Zealand an excellent site is Geology - An Overview from the Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand.