Staff Reporter :
Earthquake of 5.6-magnitude, reportedly a strong one, hit Wanaka, a town in the New Zealand’s South Island. Just before 2.30 pm on Monday ,the quake centred 30km northwest of the central Otago town and hit Wanaka with tremendous force.
According to Leungo Lippe from BoaBoa Food Company, which is situated on Ardmore St facing the lake, there was no panic when the quake struck. A 3.5 magnitude aftershock was recorded shortly afterwards. Police say there are a small number of reports of broken windows, but no major incidents have been reported to emergency services.
The quake was continuously felt at the South Island on Monday with
local authorities saying it shook buildings, but caused no serious damage. According to the US Geological Survey, the tremor struck around 2.29 pm (0229 GMT) at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), with its epicenter about 30 kilometers north-west of Wanaka,
New Zealand’s official Geo Net monitoring service listed the quake as”severe” and said there were reports of strong shaking from across the lower South Island, but added that it occurred in a sparsely populated region.
“Due to the distance from populated centers, it is not expected to begreatly damaging,” it said. Wanaka-based Otago Daily Times reporter Lucy Ibbotson said her office building shook for about 40 seconds.
She wrote on the newspaper’s website “We were panicked, the intensity seemed to build up,” Wanaka police said that the quake caused “a small number of broken windows and no major reported incidents”.
New Zealand is on the boundary of two tectonic plates and bear experiences up to 15,000 tremors a year, most so minor that they are not noticeable. But a devastating tremor hit the South Island city of Christchurch in February 2011, killing 185 people.
There have been two other large shakes in the country in recent weeks, including a 5.9-quake at the top of the South Island, neither of which caused any damage or injuries.
Earthquake of 5.6-magnitude, reportedly a strong one, hit Wanaka, a town in the New Zealand’s South Island. Just before 2.30 pm on Monday ,the quake centred 30km northwest of the central Otago town and hit Wanaka with tremendous force.
According to Leungo Lippe from BoaBoa Food Company, which is situated on Ardmore St facing the lake, there was no panic when the quake struck. A 3.5 magnitude aftershock was recorded shortly afterwards. Police say there are a small number of reports of broken windows, but no major incidents have been reported to emergency services.
The quake was continuously felt at the South Island on Monday with
local authorities saying it shook buildings, but caused no serious damage. According to the US Geological Survey, the tremor struck around 2.29 pm (0229 GMT) at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), with its epicenter about 30 kilometers north-west of Wanaka,
New Zealand’s official Geo Net monitoring service listed the quake as”severe” and said there were reports of strong shaking from across the lower South Island, but added that it occurred in a sparsely populated region.
“Due to the distance from populated centers, it is not expected to begreatly damaging,” it said. Wanaka-based Otago Daily Times reporter Lucy Ibbotson said her office building shook for about 40 seconds.
She wrote on the newspaper’s website “We were panicked, the intensity seemed to build up,” Wanaka police said that the quake caused “a small number of broken windows and no major reported incidents”.
New Zealand is on the boundary of two tectonic plates and bear experiences up to 15,000 tremors a year, most so minor that they are not noticeable. But a devastating tremor hit the South Island city of Christchurch in February 2011, killing 185 people.
There have been two other large shakes in the country in recent weeks, including a 5.9-quake at the top of the South Island, neither of which caused any damage or injuries.
