Member Since: 2/17/2010
Posts: 21,811
|
Earthquake + Plane Crash in New Zealand
Quote:
Strong earthquake rocks New Zealand's South Island
Christchurch resident Marg McCone told the BBC the quake was quite severe and went on for a considerable amount of time
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake has struck off New Zealand's South Island, the US Geological Survey has said.
The epicentre was 55km (35 miles) north-west of Christchurch, at a depth of 12 km (7.5 miles), it added.
Police said there had been widespread damage to buildings and roads as well as power cuts. Two men were seriously injured by falling masonry and glass.
Continue reading the main story
Related stories
* In pictures: New Zealand earthquake
* 'Worst earthquake I have ever felt'
A state of emergency was later declared in Christchurch, New Zealand's second largest city with a 386,000 population.
New Zealand lies at the southern end of the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, and above an area of the Earth's crust where the Pacific Plate converges with the Indo-Australian Plate.
The country experiences more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, of which only around 20 have a magnitude in excess of 5.0.
The last fatal earthquake was in 1968, when a 7.1-magnitude tremor killed three people on the South Island's western coast.
Shops 'demolished'
The earthquake struck at 0435 on Saturday local time (1635 GMT on Friday), the USGS said, when most people would have been asleep.
|
Quote:
Irish tourist dies in New Zealand plane crash
An Irish tourist has died in a plane crash in New Zealand.
The light aircraft, owned by a skydiving company, crashed soon after taking off from Fox Glacier on the country's South Island at 1330 local time.
The man, who was in his 20s, was one of nine people killed. A British national is also among the dead.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is providing consular assistance to the man's family.
It is thought to be the country's worst aviation accident since a plane crashed on landing near Christchurch in 2003, killing eight people.
|
What a day for New Zealand
Hope everything will be alright
|
|
|