#New zealand quake series#

'Structure and deformation of the Kermadec forearc in response to subduction of the Pacific oceanic plate'. ^ a b 'GeoNet News: A morning of large offshore earthquakes - what happened and future scenarios'.^ a b 'M 7.4 - Kermadec Islands, New Zealand'.^ a b c d 'M 8.1 - Kermadec Islands region'.^ a b 'M 8.1 Earthquake and Tsunami in Kermadec Islands, New Zealand on 19:28 UTC'.^ a b c d 'New Zealand and Pacific island countries – Earthquake'.^ 'Numerous landslides reported on Raoul Island after strong earthquakes'.In Port-Vila, Vanuatu, a few boats were damaged and several people were injured. The tsunami heights at Raoul Island from the main earthquake are estimated to have reached 2.4 m (7.9 ft), however, exact heights at the island from the main earthquake were not able to be measured because the earthquake destroyed the island's monitoring equipment. While the tsunami heights were initially predicted to be 1–3 m (3.3–9.8 ft) high, tsunami heights measured by GeoNet ended up being around 0.35–0.40 m (1.1–1.3 ft) at East Cape and around 0.15–0.20 m (0.49–0.66 ft) at Great Barrier Island 0.64 m (2.1 ft) waves were reported in Norfolk Island. The tsunami land threat was dropped at 1:27 pm NZDT to a 'Beach and Marine threat.' NEMA said the first waves were due to reach New Zealand at around 9.49 am local time, with flooding expected along areas of the East and West Coasts of the North Island, and issued an evacuation order for areas of Northland, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, and Great Barrier Island. Thousands of Kiwis evacuated to higher ground. The main quake led to tsunami warnings being issued around the Pacific, as far away as Peru, but particularly for the North Island of New Zealand. However there were no casualties as the island was uninhabited at the time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ī few buildings were damaged in Raoul Island. The largest slide was at Pills Beach, where about 400 meters of coastal cliffs collapsed, leaving a column of sediment in the ocean. ( October 2021)Īccording to GeoNet, the mainshock caused more than 300 landslides on steep forest cliffs and rugged coastal cliffs on Raoul Island. It is currently the largest aftershock of the sequence. A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck close to Raoul Island on 24 April 2023, over two years after the mainshock. Aftershocks Īs of January 27 2023, there have been at least 2,847 aftershocks above 4.0 magnitude. 2021 has had the most 8.0+ earthquakes in a single year since 2007. There is no evidence of a causal relationship between the three events. This is unusual since earthquakes of magnitude 8 or higher occur only about once every year on average. On July 28, 2021, nearly 5 months after the Kermadec Islands mainshock, an 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck the Alaska Peninsula, and another 8.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Sub-Antarctic British territory of the South Sandwich Islands on August 12 of that year. A flooding warning was issued due to this quake, which was rescinded before the other quakes hit. This earthquake was considered an independent event. This earthquake was felt largely across the country, and woke many people up, but no damage was caused. Other events Ībout 6 hours before the main quake, at 02:27:36 NZDT on 5 March (13:27:36 UTC, 4 March) a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck 100 km (60 mi) off East Cape in the North Island. The volcano webcam on the island ceased to function from 08:24 NZDT on 5 March 2021. The main shock was preceded by a magnitude 7.4 foreshock less than two hours prior, at 06:41:25 NZDT (17:41:25 UTC). The USGS estimated that the rupture zone was 175 by 75 km (109 by 47 mi) in area. The main magnitude 8.1 megathrust earthquake occurred at 08:28:31 NZDT on 5 March 2021 (19:28:31 UTC, 4 March) along the subduction zone due to reverse faulting. This convergent boundary is where the denser Pacific Plate subducts or dives beneath the less dense Australian Plate.

The Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone runs east of the Kermadec Islands and marks the boundary between the Australian and Pacific plates. More than a dozen aftershocks exceeded magnitude 6. A separate, unrelated magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurred off the coast of the North Island of New Zealand, approximately 900 km to the south, several hours before the main quakes. The main magnitude 8.1 earthquake was preceded by a magnitude 7.4 foreshock and followed by a magnitude 6.1 aftershock. The epicentres were located southeast of Raoul Island in the Kermadec Islands, part of the New Zealand outlying islands.

#New zealand quake series#

The 2021 Kermadec Islands earthquakes were a series of earthquakes with magnitudes of 8.1 and 7.4 that occurred at 19:28:31 UTC on 4 March 2021.