Monday, January 20, 2014

Another quake for Cathy Strong


1970s State Desk reporter Cathy Strong, who created the journalism master's degree program for Massey University campus in Wellington, New Zealand, is dealing with another earthquake.

Cathy's Facebook post:

Cathy Strong
"6.3 earthquake hit on the other side of the island (near where (daughter) Penelope and John are having their wedding). I have broken glass all over my house at the moment. AND there have been 15 more earthquakes since then, which was 58 minutes ago. Wish us luck.

There were rock falls, chimneys crumbled, windows broken, slips on highways, mainly in the Wairarapa area, but, as earthquakes go in New Zealand, this one wasn't anywhere near The Big One that folks in California talk about.

The region was shaken by two large quakes of magnitude 6.9 and 6.5 August and September last year, which caused moderate damage to buildings and infrastructure, and minor injuries.


New Zealand sits on the boundary of the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates, and records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year.


In August 2013 Cathy had to deal with a 6.5-magnitude earthquake with an epicenter near the northern tip of the South Island, 14 miles south of the town of Blenheim. Cathy works in Wellington, which is on the southern tip of the North Island, and lives on Te Horo Beach, which is about an hour north of Wellington. New Zealand is made up of the two large islands.

In February 2011, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake toppled buildings in the South Island city of Christchurch, killing 185 people and injuring several thousand. 

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