'Big jolt' from earthquake rattles Taupō region

Thursday, 5 September 2019

An earthquake which shook Taupō on Wednesday night is one of the largest to hit the region in the last 40 years.

Furniture toppled and lights swung as the earth shook in what some described as a rolling quake which lasted for about two or three minutes.

The shallow quake was centred under the lake bed 15km northeast of Turangi.

Taupō District Council staff were checking possible quake-related damage to the Motutere water intake on Thursday.

'Since 1980 we (Taupō) have had three earthquakes of 5.0 or larger,' said Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) duty volcanologist Yannik Behr on Thursday morning.

All calm now but unsettling for some. Wednesday's 5.2 magnitude earthquake was centred near Motutapu Island and considered shallow at a depth of 5km.

'It was definitely a big jolt.'

While the 7.02pm shake of 5.2 magnitude was followed by an aftershock of 4.5 some two minutes later, Behr said there was no indication they were linked to an increase in volcanic activity.

The region has been experiencing swarms of minor earthquakes over July and August, many of which pass unnoticed.

Following these two there had actually been about 80 more overnight - many of such low magnitude they are classified as 'unnoticeable'.

About 4000 people who had logged in on the GNS website had responded with a 'felt it' report following the 5.2 quake.

Those in the lakeside settlement of Motuoapa were the outliers, ones who had rated it more highly than the general, said Behr.

One Motuoapa resident told Stuff that the shake was really bad.

A 5.0 magnitude earthquake struck the central North Island on Wednesday evening.

'We had furniture fall over, books and ornaments off shelves.'

According to the website though most of the 4368 respondents rated the quake as weak or light.

Such data was valuable, Behr said. 'It definitely correlates with what our instruments are recording. It's similar in terms of patterns.'

On Thursday morning residents in the Taupō area were recounting varying levels of shaking to their homes, and varying levels of reaction to the experience.

'I was watching a movie in bed and it unsettled me so much, I couldn't continue,' said Stephen Kelly of Wharewaka.

Given the recent spill of wastewater into the lake in July, Taupō District Council staff will be checking pipelines in the wake of Wednesday night's earthquake.

Another Rainbow Point area resident who was upstairs at the time said they felt a real jolt and admitted it was scary.

As well as divers investigating damage to the water intake at Motutere, council staff would be doing reservoir and pipeline checks over the next few days, said a council spokesperson.

'Particularly wastewater pipelines.'

She also reminded the public this was a good time to check they had all their emergency evacuation procedures in place and essential supplies such as radio, batteries, water storage, first aid kits.

On Thursday afternoon the Earthquake Commission was encouraging homeowners whose properties may have been damaged to get in contact about lodging a claim. It had only received six lodgements at that point.

Renée Walker, EQC deputy chief executive of readiness and recovery, said although it seemed the earthquakes had a low impact, anyone concerned about damage from the earthquakes should contact EQC.

Quakes like these were a reminder of the need to take steps to make our homes safer and stronger, she said

'There are important preparedness steps we can all take, such as fixing and fastening household items, removing hazardous chimney types and checking foundations.'

The NZ Transport Agency was unsure whether the earthquake played any part in a slip that temporarily closed the southbound lane of State Highway 1 at Bulli Point about halfway between Turangi and Taupō, on Wednesday evening.