Earthquake swarm hits Bay of Plenty

Thursday May 20, 2010

The Bay of Plenty was hit by several earthquakes early this morning, but there have been no reports of damage anywhere.

The main shock was recorded at 2.38am this morning and registered 4.3 on the Richter scale. A second shock of 3.2 magnitude was recorded, and then several more registering between 3.2 and 3.7 occurred over the next couple of hours, felt by residents in Whakatane and Edgecumbe.

Environment Bay of Plenty’s Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Controller Warwick Murray said advice from Geological and Nuclear Science was that other shocks were typical of an after-shock sequence.

“The Bay of Plenty is a seismically active area, and these shocks are an ongoing part of seismicity which is routinely recorded in the Bay of Plenty by GNS Science,” he said.

“These shocks are a good reminder for everyone to be prepared for natural hazard events, to have enough water, food and other emergency items to enable them to survive without external assistance for at least three days.”

Last weekend six earthquakes were recorded, and this swarm was also shallow and low magnitude.

Mr Murray urged residents to visit the Get Ready, Get Thru website www.getthru.govt.nz and the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management website www.bopcivildefence.govt.nz for more information on how to prepare for and recover from an earthquake.