Tuesday, July 3, 2012

THAT was a good shake



NZST: Tue, Jul 3 2012 10:36 pm

Magnitude: 7.0

Depth: 230 km

Details: 60 km south of Opunake (170km NW of Wellington)

Wo. 7! Lucky it was deep. Working in the kitchen tonight, Mish drawing and me fiddling with the biz website, and we heard a low, long rumble. Not a plane, not a car idling - a suspicious noise; it went on for about 8 seconds, then the house she was ashaking. Mish rooted to the spot, standing in the kitchen. Me, ditto, sitting watching the lights swinging. We have one thought as we discover later:  how bad is it going to get?

But, nothing falls off shelves and she stops after a long (15 second odd shake). Fades away slowly; we   felt a wee movement underfoot for about a minute after the walls stopped moving. I'm amazed at the long intro sound - we heard that coming from a long way off. Was it coming up from 230km? Or travelling down the country? Or both?

Sometimes you do; sometimes you don't hear them coming.

Minutes later, the GeoNet website has the report that I've pasted above.
Too hyped now to head off to bed!

2 comments:

  1. Is your house quake proofed? I suspect tremors would have some impact on the structure over time. And that's not including any biggies. Judy

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jude
      It's timber, like most NZ houses. She'll move and rock with it. Some chimneys came down up north, but no cracks here (apart from the occupants). No such thing as quake proof! Mega amounts of quake strengthening going on around the country, including my local pool which has been closed for months (and months more). We drop, hold, cover - and hope for the best!

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