A burst of earthquake activity has occurred off the Wairarapa coast in recent days.
Monday, 4th July 2011
Tonight’s magnitude five earthquake off the coast of Wairarapa was the fourth event to strike the area during the past week.
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 60 km south-east of Porangahau (70 km east of Castlepoint) at 8:36 this evening. The quake was centred on the Hikurangi Trough at a depth of 12 km.
At 4:06 this morning a magnitude 4.4 quake struck the same area at a depth of 20 km.
Last night, Sunday July 3rd, a magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck nearby at 8:02 p.m. This event was centred 60 km south of Porangahau (50 km east of Castlepoint) at a depth of 25 km. On the morning of Tuesday June 28th, a magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck closer to the coast, 20 km east of Porangahau, at a depth of 20 km.
Other quakes along the Wairarapa, Hawke’s Bay coastline in the past week have included a deeper magnitude 3.4 event centred 10 km south-east of Waipukurau on the afternoon of Thursday June 30th, and a magnitude 3.8 quake centred 30 km south-west of Wairoa on the evening of Tuesday the 28th of June.
[Compiled from data provided by the GeoNet project and its sponsors EQC, GNS Science and FRST.]