More 'Quakes

Well it's been a fascinating few days so far as 'quakes are concerned. Last year I felt one small 'quake. This year we've had the Biggie which was 50k out to sea but still did about $4m damage in Gisborne (that was the last estimate I heard). A few evenings ago there was a loud bang and rumble and I went outside to see what had happened. I didn't feel the earth move so didn't realise it was an earthquake. It was and was near Taupo. When I say 'near' it was 120k deep so that's quite a long way down. Isn't the earth huge? Taupo by road is 143k from here. Say 120 as the crow would fly if it was minded to make the journey. Using Pythagoras's Theorem I reckon the 'quake was 170k from me. The 'quake was 5.5 on the Richter scale. That's a big noise for something that happened so far away. So when the earth moved this morning with the following 'quake which was .1 on the logarithmic scale larger and only 40k down I was very surprised that there was no accompanying noise.

Considering there are 15,000 'quakes a year in New Zealand I suppose it's not surprising that very few make the news. There are relatively few in the UK. The largest one in the last 30 days was only 2.9 on the Richter Scale and was at Llangollen. Perthshire is prone to 'quakes though and even a very small one makes the news.

Quake Details

Information about this earthquake:

Reference Number	2843195/G
Universal Time	December 28 2007 at 18:03
NZ Daylight Time	Saturday, December 29 2007 at 7:03 am
Latitude, Longitude	38.78°S, 176.31°E
Focal Depth	80 km
Richter magnitude	5.6
Region	Taupo
Location	20 km south-east of Taupo 250 km south-east of Auckland

Felt widely in the North Island.

Well, like the weather, I suppose this topic could become even more boring than sunscreen so, hopefully, that the last of the 'quake Postings on this Blog.

Oh, by the way, the Family has just gone to Taupo for the week to their timeshare. I'm following in a few days. Perhaps I shouldn't have told you all about this!