Map Credit USGS
# 7502
Overnight (EDT) a strong, shallow earthquake struck about 35 miles SSW of Wellington, New Zealand. Early reports include some structural damage and some power outages, but no reports (yet) of serious injuries.
New Zealand earthquake damages Wellington parliament –BBC Report
New Zealand is no stranger to seismic activity. In September of 2010 a 7.1 Magnitude quake struck near Christchurch, followed five months later by an even more damaging 6.3 aftershock (see NZ: Aftershocks, Rescue Attempts, Casualties, And The Mounting Toll).
Over the past two years a number of large aftershocks have been recorded (see 5.5 & 6.0 Aftershocks Strike Christchurch), along with fresh seismic activity from other fault lines.
New Zealand lies on a very active Pacific `ring of fire’ that has sparked large quakes and volcanic activity from New Zealand, to Japan, to Alaska, down the west coast of Canada and the United States, and to the tip of South America.
An Active Ring of Fire
Original Map – USGS
As you can see by the map above, while it was Wellington overnight, tomorrow it could just as easily be Tokyo, Anchorage, or the Pacific Northwest. Major earthquakes (7.0 Mag or greater) occur somewhere in the world roughly 17 times each year.
1. Based on observations since 1900.
2. Based on observations since 1990.
NOTE: The NEIC estimates that several million earthquakes occur in the world each year. Many go undetected because they hit remote areas or have very small magnitudes.
Source: National Earthquake Information Center, USGS
The inevitability of disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes is why government agencies such as FEMA and Ready.gov stress individual and community preparedness.
They know that it is really just a matter of time before another major disaster strikes, and that in extreme emergencies some families or individuals may be on their own for several days.
National Preparedness Month (September) is just five weeks away, and along with thousands of others across the country, AFD blog is once again proud to be part of this year’s NPM coalition.
But no one should wait until September to become better prepared. Natural disasters don’t read calendars.
The County of Los Angeles Emergency Survival Guide calls for having 3 to 10 days worth of food and water. Personally, I believe that 2-weeks of supplies isn’t an unreasonable goal, particularly if you live in earthquake or hurricane country.
The L.A. guide may be downloaded here (6.5 Mbyte PDF).
For more information on preparedness, I would invite you to visit:
FEMA http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm
READY.GOV http://www.ready.gov/
AMERICAN RED CROSS http://www.redcross.org/
And for some earlier blogs on the seismic hazards in the United States, and around the world, you may wish to revisit:
Revised Risk Of `The Big One’ Along San Andreas Fault
Estimating The Economic Impact Of A San Andreas Quake
Academics Debate Odds Of Tokyo Earthquake
