Just 30 minutes ago I was sitting chatting on the phone to Pat (as she was on the Isle of Lewis it was too far away to shout) when I felt an earthquake. It was not a big one but enough to startle me and tell Pat about. As soon as I came off the phone I checked on Geonet and, sure enough, there were the details. It'll have rattled a few teeth in the Whakatane area.
| Reference Number | 3063166/G |
|---|---|
| Universal Time | March 21 2009 at 20:28 |
| NZ Daylight Time | Sunday, March 22 2009 at 9:28 am |
| Latitude, Longitude | 37.79°S, 176.78°E |
| Focal Depth | 160 km |
| Richter magnitude | 5.8 |
| Region | Bay of Plenty |
| Location |
|
More details can be seen at seen at http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3063166g-maps.html
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Is the focal depth the estimated depth below the surface that the movement was centred upon? I've never seen the phrase before and never thought about how deep down the actual movement was.
ReplyDeleteYes. It's based upon seismic wave phenomena. It's quite odd because here the first question is always "Where was it?" The second is "What was it on the Richter scale?" The third is "How deep was it?" What one really does not want is a nearby 7.5 at 2k deep. That would seriously rattle your dags.
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