Great
Earthquakes In Diverse Places
New Zealand: Two earthquakes rattle North Island
Last updated 08:36 14/01/2011
NZ News Wires
The North Island's East Coast was shaken by two significant
earthquakes this morning, with residents saying they could hear
one of the quakes coming.
The first and largest quake, a 5.5 magnitude tremor, struck 160km
north-east of Ruatoria, near Tokomaru Bay, at 1.04am.
A 4.2 magnitude earthquake struck at 5.31am and was centred 10km
north-east of the city at a depth of 30km.
Gisborne resident Anna Covell said she felt both the quakes - and
the first one was definitely the more violent.
"I was lying there and thinking maybe I should get out of bed,"
she said.
"One of them you could definitely hear - there was a real rumbling
sound like a truck or thunder in the distance a split second
before it hit."
Moira Johnston, also from Gisborne, said she heard the second
quake coming too.
"There was a bit of a creak but I didn't get out of bed."
"It was quite eerie though, there was no wind and no birds after
it hit."
Lynne Holmberg was awake and using her laptop when she felt the
first quake.
''It seemed like three quakes to me - they all came very close
together,'' she said.
Holmberg lives in a Lockwood house, which made quite a bit of
noise when it shook.
She ran into check on her seven-year-old grandson, Silas, who was
quite shaken after the big quake in December 2007, but found he
was OK.
They fell back to sleep and didn't rouse when the second quake
hit. Nothing in their home was damaged.
Parts of Gisborne are still re-building from a magnitude 6.8
earthquake which struck in December 2007.
Several stores have had to move, or close down, after the
buildings they were housed in were declared unsafe.
- with Waikato Times