2003 Fiordland earthquake
| 2003 Fiordland earthquake | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| date | August 22, 2003 | ||
| Time | 1:12 a.m. local time | ||
| intensity | 9 on the MM scale | ||
| Magnitude | 7.2 M W | ||
| depth | 20 km | ||
| epicenter |
45 ° 7 '48 " S , 166 ° 55' 48" O
(10 km northwest of Secretary Island )
|
||
| country | New Zealand | ||
| Affected places | |||
| Tsunami | No | ||
| damage | minor damage in Te Anau | ||
The Fiordland earthquake of 2003 , which had a magnitude 7.2 M W , took place on August 22, 2003 on the west coast of New Zealand's South Island , 10 km northwest of Secretary Island and thus at sea. The effects of the earthquake were felt in Otago and Southland , with minor damage, mostly to chimneys, in Te Anau , about 90 km away .
Tectonic background
The earthquake did not occur directly on the Alpine Fault of the Southern Alps , but created upward shocks and changes at the subduction interface of the Australian and Pacific plates .
The quake
The August 22nd quake was the heaviest earthquake in the South Island in 35 years since the Inangahua earthquake . The measuring station closest to the epicenter at the Manapouri power station, 52 km away , recorded earthquakes with 0.17 times the acceleration due to gravity . Until September 4, 2003 strong part aftershocks occurred, eight of the strengths between 5.1 M W and 6.2 M W had.
By the end of September, a little more than 2,100 damage reports had been submitted to the New Zealand Earthquake Commission , but many did not go beyond damage, especially to damaged chimneys. The many landslides caused by the quakes occurred only in uninhabited areas. A landslide in the so-called Gold Arm of Charles Sound even produced a 1-2 m high tsunami , which was limited to the arm of the fjord .
See also
literature
- GT Hancox, S. Cox, IM Turbull, MJ Crozier : Reconnaissance studies of landslides and other ground damage caused by the Mw 7.2 Fiordland earthquake of 22 August 2003 - science report . In: Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences (Ed.): Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences science report . tape 2003/30 . Lower Hutt 2003, ISBN 0-478-09826-X (English, online, PDF 2.6 MB ( memento from June 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) [accessed on June 1, 2016] Document no longer available on the original page, link on WaybackMachine from June 1, 2012).
Web links
- M 7.2, Fiordland, 22 August 2003 . GeoNet - GNS Science ,accessed April 7, 2013.