According to catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide, a major earthquake struck off the southwestern coast of New Zealand on Wednesday July 15 at 8:22 p.m. local time (9:22 a.m. UTC).
The United States Geological Survey has issued a preliminary moment magnitude estimate of 7.6 while both the Japanese Meteorological Agency and New Zealand’s Institute of Geological and Nuclear Science have reported a moment magnitude of 7.8. Depth is estimated at a shallow 20 km (12 miles).
AIR said the epicenter of the “quake was 150 kilometers (95 miles) west-northwest of the small city of Invercargill (population 51,600) on the country’s sparsely-populated South Island, near Fiordland National Park. A tsunami alert issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre and the Australia Bureau of Metrology (AOB) was withdrawn within an hour after it was determined that the threat had passed.”
Dr. Bingming Shen-Tu, principal scientist, seismology at AIR Worldwide, explained: “The epicentral location is in the most seismically active area of South Island. The quake occurred in the Puysegur subduction zone where the Australia plate subducts under the South Island of New Zealand, which is part of the Pacific plate, at a rate of 40 millimeters per year. The focal mechanism of the earthquake suggests that this event was generated along the Puysegur subduction thrust. The event was a thrust event, meaning that it most likely occurred along the plate interface in the subduction zone.”
He also noted that in “August 2003, an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 ruptured the segment of Puysegur subduction thrust fault just north of this earthquake’s epicenter, causing significant landslides in parts of the region.”
AIR said tremors from the quake reported lasted “several minutes and was felt across the island. The earthquake shook buildings as far away as Christchurch—more than 532 kilometers (330 mi) northeast of the epicenter and the largest city on South Island.”
Rescue officials say the quake briefly knocked out power and phone lines in the region near the epicenter. Similarly, cracked buildings have been reported in Tuatapere, the closest town to the epicenter. At Jackson Bay, 200 miles due north of Invercargill on South Island’s west coast, the sea rose 0.17 meters (6.7 inches) above normal.
In conclusion AIR noted that, “using information about the current parameters of this event,” it has run numerous simulations through its New Zealand Earthquake Model and it “estimates that insured losses will not be significant.”
Source: AIR Worldwide – www.air-worldwide.com
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