A moderately strong earthquake struck near St Arnaud in Marlborough this afternoon.
Tuesday 9th February 2016
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck near Molesworth air strip in Marlborough at 1:39 this afternoon. GeoNet reports that the quake was centred 35 km south-east of St Arnaud at a depth of 48 km. Members of the public have lodged more than 3500 “felt reports” with GeoNet, indicating that the quake was felt from Auckland to Dunedin.
GeoNet’s Seismograph Network, afternoon of February 9th
[click for larger image] The earthquake left a strong trace on GeoNet’s seismograph network.
GeoNet’s Sarah McBride posted a brief report on the event, noting that the quake was “fairly deep” and that aftershocks were unlikely to be felt.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported today’s earthquake as magnitude 5.2, centred 58 km west-north-west of Kaikoura, 95 km south of Nelson, 169 km south-west of Wellington at a depth of 51 km.
A shallow magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 45 km east of St Arnaud on the morning of January 2nd at a depth of 23 km.
On the 24th of April last year, a slightly deeper magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck the same area. This quake was centred 35 km south-east of St Arnaud at a depth of 52 km. The quake struck at 3:37 p.m. on a business day and was widely felt, especially by workers in high-rise buildings in Wellington.
On the morning of October 4th 2007 a magnitude 5.6 quake struck the same area. This quake was centred 40 km north of Hanmer Springs at a depth of 70 km. This quake was followed by a series of 32 reported aftershocks over the next three days.
A deep magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 30 km south of St Arnaud on the morning of the 7th of November 2007.