Archive for August, 2008

Don’t Weed-eat The Daffodils

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

(some Sunday whimsy)

“Dinner’s ready, darling!.”
“Good-oh hun. I’ll just scrub-up after working in the garden…”
A short time later…
“Ummm, honey bun. The kids have nice towering plates of vittles, where’s mine?”
“Oh, out in the kennel. Fang is looking after it for you … I think.”

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Fiordland Quake

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Fiordland late on Saturday evening the 30th of August 2008. The magnitude 4.7 quake was located off-shore 50 km north of Milford Sound at a depth of 12 km.

[Compiled from data provided by the GeoNet project and its sponsors EQC, GNS Science and FRST.]

Kermadec Quake

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

A moderately strong earthquake struck the Kermadec Islands late this evening, New Zealand time.

Preliminary data shows that the magnitude 5.1 quake, which struck at 10:34 p.m. on Saturday the 30th of August 2008, was located 75 km north-east of Raoul Island at a depth of 50 km.

[Compiled from data supplied by the U.S. Geological Survey and its contributing agencies.]

Strong Quake, Papua New Guinea

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

A strong earthquake struck eastern New Guinea this evening, Saturday August 30th 2008, New Zealand time.

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Quake Claims Already Top $500,000

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Within a day of the magnitude 5.9 earthquake near Hastings, damage claims have passed half a million dollars in value.

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Hawke’s Bay Cleans Up

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

With the coming of daylight, residents and businesses in Hawke’s Bay on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island have started cleaning up after last night’s magnitude 5.9 earthquake. Reports suggest that infrastructure has escaped the damage which seems to be limited to contents of houses and shops, broken windows and cracked plaster.

Only four minor aftershocks have been recorded overnight.

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Hastings Earthquake

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

A shallow moderately strong earthquake struck near Hastings in Hawkes Bay late last evening. The magnitude 5.9 earthquake was located 10 km south-west of Hastings at a depth of 30 km.

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Skating On Thin Ice

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

Tawa’s coldest overnight temperature this winter has left the birds skating on thin ice when they popped in for their morning ablutions in the bird bath.

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Strong Earthquake, Tonga

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

A very shallow magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off-shore in the Tongan islands this morning.

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Blat!

Sunday, August 17th, 2008

Thanks to the worried readers of the Wild Land website who rang to enquire if we were deaded after the Wild Land, Tawa Weather and other websites were down for most of Friday. (I’ll be paying the Rent-a-crowd bill promptly this month, to reward you for your concern).

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Tsunami Network Grows

Thursday, August 14th, 2008

GNS Science has added a new station to New Zealand’s Tsunami Monitoring Network.

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Geological Summary for New Zealand Area, July 2008

Tuesday, August 12th, 2008

Earthquake activity continued at a low level. White Island, Mt. Ngauruhoe, and Mt. Ruapehu remained at Alert Level 1.

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Almost, But Not Quite

Sunday, August 10th, 2008

Tawa came close to experiencing snow for the first time in a few years yesterday. But a bouncing thermometer kept it at bay.

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Hydro Storage Improves

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

New Zealand’s hydro lake levels improved during July 2008, with good inflows boosting North Island lakes while South Island storage languished.

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Ban The Bomb

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

Weather enthusiasts are up in arms over the misuse of the term “weather bomb” in relation to some of the stormy weather that has hit New Zealand in recent weeks.

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