There was a Mag. 5.7 near Wellington last night. It was 40km west of Wellington and 60km deep which is a reasonable distance away and depth compared to the Christchurch quakes, yet it still caused some minor damage. The brand new (< 5 years old) Meridian building is reported to have lost some louvres which came crashing to the street below. If a Mag. 5.7 a good distance away and at reasonable depth can cause damage to new buildings then what will happen when the Mag. 8 strikes beneath the city itself?
I’m not exactly feeling that secure about living in Auckland either. Today in the news is the headline “Study predicts 6km Auckland ‘ring of death’”. It is referring to the slumbering volcanic field beneath Auckland and the high possibility of it producing a base surge when it does eventually erupt again. A base surge is a mix of hot gases, ash and rock that shoots out of the erupting vent hugging the ground and radiating in all directions, destroying everything in its path. The 6km is the diameter of the expected surge. Auckland will probably get some warning before this happens – in the form of earthquakes, yay! – but it may only be hours. If we’re lucky, we’ll get weeks. A few hours will be just enough time to join the ensuing traffic jam and then to sit in the car idly waiting for the surge, unable to go anywhere.
Auckland has come third in the 2011 Mercer quality of living survey. Just behind Vienna and Zurich. Obviously the likelihood of being roasted by a volcanic surge was not one of the criteria analysed.
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