After a good night's sleep, I was so busy enjoying having a breakfast cooked by someone else that I totally missed the geological excitement of the day. Apparently there was an earthquake of about 5.3 magnitude (Richter Scale), with a focus at Hanmer Springs, northwest of Christchurch (see picture below). I didn't even notice it, although one or two of the geologists staying in the hotel said they thought they had felt an earthquake. According to reports there was no significant damage or any injuries related to the earthquake. We flew over Hanmer Springs en route to Christchurch on October 3rd (see yesterday's blog) but the mountains were mostly covered by cloud, so we did not see the Hanmer Springs area from the plane.
View of Hanmer Springs area
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE EARTHQUAKE
1. In the newspapers: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4225601a6009.html
2. From GeoNet (the New Zealand 'real time' hazards monitoring and information network of New Zealand's GNS Science and Earthquake Commission - both Government Organizations): http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/latest.html
3. From the US Geological Survey Earthquake Center you can learn about recent earthquakes anywhere in the world : http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/4. USGS Information on the Octoer 4th Hanmer Springs Earthquake: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007iaby.php
5. For New Zealand's location in the SW PacificGo to http://data.gns.cri.nz/geoatlas/text.jsp to learn more about New Zealand geology and Plate Tectonic Setting
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