A series of four moderate to strong earthquakes have struck at varying depths near Vanuatu since Sunday morning, New Zealand time. Three of the events have been located within 180 km of Luganville and all within 450 km of Port Vila.
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Earthquakes Near Vanuatu
Thursday, April 26th, 2007ANZAC Day 2007
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007The perversity of the weather usually makes an early start to get to a dawn parade on ANZAC Day an uncomfortable one. But this year’s Indian summer has changed that with dry weather in the North Island and the upper two thirds of the South Island encouraging good turnouts for the dawn commemorative services.
Is April 2007 Drier Than Normal?
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007The continuing trend of mild days but with cooler nights poses the question – Is this April drier than normal for Tawa?
Matata Earthquake
Monday, April 23rd, 2007Some residents of the Bay of Plenty were jolted from their slumber by a 4th magnitude earthquake just before midnight, last night.
Strong Earthquake, Papua New Guinea
Saturday, April 21st, 2007A strong, deep earthquake struck near the interface between the Pacific Plate and Bismarck Microplate near Papua New Guinea this evening, New Zealand time.
Southern Kermadec Quake
Saturday, April 21st, 2007A moderately strong earthquake struck to the south of the Kermadec Islands this morning, New Zealand time. It follows a series of similar quakes along the west of the Pacific Plate during the past day.
Geonet’s New Website
Thursday, April 19th, 2007Geonet has invited feedback on its new website. The completely revamped website went live on April 12th, and Geonet has now posted a news item asking for visitors’ feedback.
Pacific Earthquakes
Wednesday, April 18th, 2007Yesterday’s earthquake south of the Kermadec Islands was the latest in a series of light to strong quakes both north and south of New Zealand during the past week.
Geological Summary for New Zealand Area, March 2007
Sunday, April 15th, 2007Earthquake activity continued at a low level, apart from a swarm of quakes near Matata. White Island, Mt Ngauruhoe, and Mt Ruapehu remained at Alert Level 1.
Geonet, the USGS (NEIC) and IGNS reported 58 earthquakes in the New Zealand area between the Kermadec Islands in the north, and the Auckland Islands to the south during March 2007. The magnitude distributions were as follows:
M6 to 6.9 (none), M5 to 5.9 (4), M4 to 4.9 (12) M3 to 3.9 (32).
An additional 10 events in the magnitude 1 and 2 range were deemed worthy of mention.
Makeover at Geonet
Thursday, April 12th, 2007A major makeover of the Geonet website went live late today. The completely changed website layout was originally scheduled for launch at the end of February, in order to bring together news on geological events with relevant background material of public interest.
Matata Quakes – Are They Getting Shallower?
Wednesday, April 11th, 2007Data published on the Geonet website for quakes associated with the Matata earthquake swarm indicate that the earthquakes have become shallower during the first week of April. However, this is not the case, according to seismologist Bryan Field.
Hydro Storage Remains Below Average
Tuesday, April 10th, 2007New Zealand’s hydro lake storage remained below average during March 2007, due to a month of mainly below-average inflows.
Dry First Quarter 2007
Monday, April 9th, 2007The first three months of 2007 have been drier in Tawa than the same period in the previous two years.
During the first 3 months of 2005, the Tawa weather station recorded 200 mm of rainfall. The same quarter of 2006 saw 218 mm recorded. Only 112 mm of rain was recorded during the same period this year.
Whilst rainfall during January this year was slightly more than the same period last year (66 mm vs 58mm), February and March have been considerably drier with only 12 mm and 34 mm of rain respectively.
The weather has been calmer, too. The lack of strong drying winds reducing the impact of the dry conditions on plants and soil.
The Solomon Quake’s Seismic Aftermath
Friday, April 6th, 2007During the 4 days since the great quake struck the Solomon Islands, various island states in the Solomon Sea have experienced 72 shallow earthquakes of magnitude 4 or greater.
March 2007 Drier Than Previous Three Years
Thursday, April 5th, 2007Tawa’s climate during March 2007 was the warmest and driest since 2004, and similar to temperatures experienced during March 2003.