New Zealand’s North Island shaken by another earthquake

 July 7, 2012 – NEW ZEALAND – North Islanders were again rattled by a strong earthquake yesterday, but experts say the tremor was not related to a much larger quake four days earlier. GeoNet reported a magnitude 5.7 quake (5.0 USGS) struck 10km south of Turangi at 12.50pm. The quake was 90 km deep and, though police said there were no reports of damage, some residents said trinkets had been smashed. It came four days after a magnitude 7 earthquake, centred at a depth of 230 km and offshore from Taranaki, rattled residents from the Bay of Plenty to Canterbury, but caused little damage. Shaken people took to social media and message boards yesterday to share their experiences, some describing the shake as “huge.” A Trade Me post from Taumarunui said the quake “smashed a few photo frames” and GeoNet duty seismologist Lara Bland said a report on their website from a Turangi resident indicated some damage. However, central North Island residents spoken to by the Herald on Sunday were stoic. Raetihi woman Wiki Brown said she felt a little tremor and “that was it. The 7.0 was out of it. The whole house was shaking, I thought the mountain was blowing up.” That was because the tectonic plate was dipping under the North Island, so energy from it travelled back up the plate following the easiest path available, which was to the east. –NZ Herald