A burst of earthquake activity has been recorded near L’Esperance Rock in the southern Kermadec Islands since Tuesday.
Saturday 3rd April 2010
Three earthquakes of fifth magnitude have struck near L’Esperance Rock since Tuesday.
The activity began with a magnitude 5.2 quake located 20 km north-north-east of L’Esperance Rock (855 km north-east of Auckland) at 6:16 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time on Tuesday March 30th. The quake was 90 km deep.
The following morning a magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck at 8:29 a.m. This event was located 40 km east of L’Esperance Rock (870 km north-east of Auckland) at a depth of 35 km.
The latest in the series struck at 2:36 this afternoon. This magnitude 5.3 earthquake was located 195 km east of L’Esperance Rock (990 km north-east of Auckland) at a depth of 10 km.
At 8 o’clock in the morning of Wednesday March 31st another magnitude five earthquake struck closer to New Zealand. The magnitude 5.2 quake was located 30 km north of White Island (80 km north of Whakatane) at a depth of 130 km. This quake was felt at Whangamata, Opotiki and Gisborne.
Elsewhere in the Kermadec Islands, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck at 4:50 p.m. on Friday afternoon. This event was located well to the north, being centred 530 km north-north-east of Raoul Island at a depth of 35 km.
[Compiled from data provided by the U.S. Geological Survey and its contributing agencies; and the GeoNet project and its sponsors EQC, GNS Science and FRST.]