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Christchurch, NZ, was walloped again by three powerful earthquakes.
The first, measuring a magnitude of 5.8, struck just before 1pm local time Dec. 23, and was followed by a 5.3 and an even stronger 5.9 within just a couple of hours.
There were rockfalls, dust flew, and buildings shook intensely, but no major damage or injuries were initially reported.
However, the area is still recovering from other strong earthquakes, including a 6.3 in February. Last September, the area was struck by a 7.0 magnitude quake.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said the quakes “shattered the nerves of people slowly getting their lives back to normal… and people had dared to hope that the aftershocks were over.”
Unfortunately, the area does not yet appear to be in the clear.
Strong earthquakes bounced around the Ring of Fire on Thursday.
Major shakers all registering above 5.0 shook Fiji, New Zealand, Cuba and Japan in relatively quick succession.
A smaller 3.5 quake also struck southern California in the same time frame while a 6.1 shook Alaska less than 24 hours earlier.
The strongest of the bunch was a 7.3-magnitude quake that struck the Fiji region. Thankfully the quake didn’t trigger a tsunami
A cold blast brought New Zealand to a standstill last week.
The country was blanketed with its heaviest snowfall in over 15 years.
Earthquake damaged Christchurch was hit hard, making already troubled roads nearly impassable. Local officials recommended motorists stay off the roads for up to two days across the area.
The highly unusual snowfall forced closures of airports, roads, and major institutions across New Zealand. Heavy snow and avalanches also trapped 250 skiers in the mountains.
New Zealand’s Kermadec Islands were rocked by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake on Thursday.
The islands are a mostly barren volcanic chain subject to reasonably high levels of seismic activity. There have been over 50 events of magnitude 6.5 and above over the past 40 years, four of which were greater than Thursday’s quake.
However, New Zealand has been subject to a rash of unusually strong earthquakes in the past several months, including the 7.0 that struck Christchurch in February.
Hopefully the Kermadecs are not signalling even more destruction.
