Earthquakes Change New Zealand Topography

There were two earthquakes recently in New Zealand. The first - a 7.4 on the Richter scale - was November 13 just after 8:00 P.M. The second was a 6.2 on the Richter scale and happened  a mere half an hour later only seventeen miles away.

    An earthquake is the noticeable shaking of the surface of the Earth, resulted from the sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust creating seismic waves. Earthquakes can be violent and very dangerous enough to damage or kill people, animals, plants and destroy whole cities.

    One person who was doing a working–holiday in Wellington, New Zealand talked about his experience during the earthquakes . The day when the earthquake occurred, the weather  was nice. He was trying to eat when his roommate felt something and said he could feel some vibrations in their house.

    At first, they thought it was not a big deal, but it did not take long for them to realize that the vibrations were an earthquake. The vibrations  became much more severe, so they hid under the table. All the plates and cups fell down and cracked. The only thoughts they had was ‘What is going on? What if my house is ruined? What if I die?’. He said now he can understand why people’s thought is stopped when they are in the serious and dangerous situations. 

    After the earthquake stopped, many buildings and houses were cracked and many people were gathered along the road. There were some newspaper and broadcasting reporters who were taking pictures and trying to interview people. Near Wellington, in the Lower Hutt, people were warned that there was going to be Tsunami. So all of the people evacuated to Victoria Mountain and many towns were vacant. After the earthquake ended, a number of shops and schools were closed so that the buildings could be checked for damage.

    According to the New Zealand news, the earthquake was strong enough to bring a huge rock from the ocean floor to the shore. Scientists said that this was the first time this happened. There were also a lot of dead ocean creatures floating on the surface of the ocean. At least two people died in the earthquake.

    As a result of the quakes, the North Island and South Island became closer than before. Kaikoira, where the second earthquake occurred, rose up 70 centimeters higher than before; Wellington was raised up 6 centimeters. All of these changes occurred in the span of only a few moments.