Large Earthquake In Southland - Felt In Wellington

Wednesday, 15 July 2009, 10:29 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

A large earthquake of as yet indeterminate size occurred off the coast of Southland at 9.22pm this evening. The USGS global earthquake monitoring system recorded the earthquake at 7.8 on the richter scale (in a preliminary estimate) while the NZ based GNS system has recorded it at 6.6.

According to twitter the earthquake was felt strongly in Paekakariki approximately 800kms away from it.

(continuing story….)

GNS Report

Magnitude 6.6, Wednesday, July 15 2009 at 9:22 pm (NZST), 90 km north-west of Tuatapere.
Quake Details
Information about this earthquake:
Reference Number 3124785/G
Universal Time July 15 2009 at 9:22
NZ Standard Time Wednesday, July 15 2009 at 9:22 pm
Latitude, Longitude 45.78°S, 166.68°E
Focal Depth 5 km
Richter magnitude 6.6
Region Fiordland
Location • 90 km north-west of Tuatapere
• 90 km south-west of Te Anau
• 150 km north-west of Invercargill
• 300 km west of Dunedin

USGS Information

Magnitude
7.8 (Preliminary magnitude — update expected within 15 minutes)
Date-Time
• Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at 09:22:33 UTC
• Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at 08:22:33 PM at epicenter
Location
46.100°S, 166.300°E
Depth
33 km (20.5 miles) set by location program
Region
OFF WEST COAST OF THE SOUTH ISLAND, N.Z.
Distances
• 161 km (100 miles) W (281°) from Invercargill, New Zealand
• 219 km (136 miles) WSW (237°) from Queenstown, New Zealand
• 326 km (202 miles) W (264°) from Dunedin, New Zealand
• 866 km (538 miles) SW (229°) from WELLINGTON, New Zealand
Location Uncertainty
Error estimate not available
Parameters
NST=037, Nph=037, Dmin=319.2 km, Rmss=1.46 sec, Gp= 65°,
M-type="moment" magnitude from initial P wave (tsuboi method) (Mi/Mwp), Version=1
Source
• West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center/NOAA/NWS

Event ID
at00764975

ENDS

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Alastair Thompson

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Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

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