Residents of Matata, a town on the coast of the Bay of Plenty, are experiencing yet another earthquake swarm. Four shallow quakes have struck the area so far this month.
Between January 9th and 23rd, four earthquakes with magnitudes between 2.8 and 3.0 have struck at a depth of 5 km, 10 km north-east of Matata.
During December last year, four earthquakes ranging in magnitude between 2.8 and 3.4 were reported in the same location at depths between 3 and 5 km.
October and November were quieter, but a shallow magnitude 3.8 quake, which struck 10 km north-east of Matata on the morning of the 8th of September 2006, was felt along the Bay of Plenty coast between Tauranga and Whakatane.
During 2005, three distinct swarms of earthquakes struck Matata between the 12th of February and 25th of August. Some of the 55 earthquakes plagued the town at the same time as a flash flood which caused considerable damage to the settlement.
In 2004, a swarm of 4 earthquakes struck the area on May 2nd.
[Compiled from earthquake reports published by Geonet and its contributing agencies.]
I don’t know about them – but if I lived in that general area, I’d be starting to get concerned. There have been six 4.1+ off the coast near Ruatoria in the last 3 days, several swarms in matata – It’s got my attention…