6.2 earthquake hits off New Zealand

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Published time: July 03, 2012 10:57
Edited time: July 03, 2012 15:39

A 6.2 magnitude earthquake has hit under the Tasman Sea, some 60 kilometers south-west of New Zealand’s North Island.

The quake hit at an estimated 236 kilometer deep, according to the US Geological Survey.

New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, which is on the neighboring South Island, is 161 km south-east of the epicenter of the quake. Some city residents have posted on Twitter that they’ve felt slight tremors.

“When I first moved to Wellington in the mid 90s I remember lots of sharp quakes, but not rolling, rumbling ones like that,” says Twitter user @grantrobertson1.

“A FULL twenty seconds of shaking in Wellington, not strong but just going on and on and on. Over now,” says @BarnabyHM.

The tremors were also reportedly felt in Christchurch, the island’s largest city, which is located hundreds of kilometers to the south.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries caused by the quake.

Earthquakes are common in New Zealand, which is part of the geologically active part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The most recent powerful quake in the country happened in December 2011 near Christchurch, causing huge damage in the region, with a magnitude of 6.0. This followed just 10-months after another quake which devastated the city and killed 185 people.

Comments (7)

Humanus Wright (unregistered) 03.07.2012 12:01

Quote of the Day - Regarding Gareth Williams, “The world was ours for the taking.”. There's a rumour going around that Gareth may of had some sort of a last covert mission with 'Dolly the Sheep', prior to his demise, but it hasn't been fully substantiated! Apparently Alex Chapman didn't know about this covert relationship, but he may have Saw(ers) alot! Ronan Summers definitely didn't have anything to do with it, even though he loves to drink Tenets! We all love Wiltshire (Porton Down) more than Gloucestershire (GCHQ), even more so then Worcestershire (RSRE). Military Radiations Signals Intelligence always use to do 'his head in', especially when using ELF or VLF frequencies, impacting directly on the 'Neural Oscillations' of the Central Nervous System. But taking a 'Nano-Medicine' Paracetamol takes the head to a new level of game play, I'll assure you of that! Nothing to do with BCI, RNM, Synthetic Telepathy ... that would REALLY BE MAD!!! An odd thought shared ... the illegal "watching over" in our individual 'castles' of this beloved Britannia, while entertaining Babar Pappa.

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SteveNZ (unregistered) 03.07.2012 11:43

What is wrong with some of you people? no wounder this world is up the s**t.Neels De Bruyn, you need to get a life and try and be a brave boy when your not hiding behind a screen!

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RK (unregistered) 03.07.2012 11:35

The quake has been upgraded to a 7.0

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