You might have noticed in the minutes following an earthquake, the magnitude and its precise location may change. Usually these changes are slight, but for larger, more complex events like the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, they could be more significant. We explain why this happens and take a closer look at the different types of magnitudes there are.

Potentially the largest landslide-triggering event on record in Aotearoa, Cyclone Gabrielle caused thousands of landslides across the North Island. Landslides damaged houses and infrastructure and were directly responsible for the deaths of five people.

Welcome, haere mai to another GeoNet Data Blog. Today we talk about why we’d like to encourage you to use our official tools to access GeoNet data, rather than contacting a friend and asking them to provide the data for you.

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake with strong shaking has occurred at 9:14am on Wednesday 20 September. The earthquake was 11km deep and located within 45km north of Geraldine and felt widely throughout the Canterbury region.

GeoNet maintains more than 700 permanent monitoring sites around Aotearoa New Zealand. These sites contain hundreds of sensors that gather data on ground movement and shaking from earthquakes. That data underpins our understanding of the geohazard events we face in New Zealand, particularly earthquakes.

Our seismic equipment is very sensitive and can detect seismic waves from earthquakes that happen far away. These distant events can cause confusion when they create false earthquakes. Today we look at Friday’s M6.9 Kermadec earthquake and why it caused “ghost” quakes, and why some earthquakes get deleted from GeoNet’s website and app.

Welcome, haere mai to another GeoNet Data Blog. Today, we look at GeoNet’s use of the AWS (Amazon Web Services) Open Data Sponsorship Program, and how our data users can make use of the program to access our data, particularly large volumes of our data. We will explain what AWS Open Data is and give some simple examples of how you can use it to access our data.

Te Wai ā-moe (Ruapehu Crater Lake) is into another heating phase, and has reached 26 °C, rising from a low of 11 °C in July. Other monitoring indicators remain within normal ranges for such a heating episode. Volcanic activity remains low. The Volcanic Alert Level remains at Level 1 and the Aviation Colour Code at Green.

Visitors to our earthquake detail pages can view dynamic ‘Shaking Layers’ maps, which illustrate the intensity of ground shaking caused by earthquakes in different parts of the country. The maps incorporate data from ground motion sensors and are automatically produced within 10 to 20 minutes of a magnitude 3.5 or greater earthquake. Users can zoom into the map and get a measure of how strong the shaking was in any area.

Mount Taranaki dominates the skyline of the Taranaki region. Standing 2,518 metres high it is hard to miss. Equally hard to disregard is the evidence of many past eruptions that this active volcano has left in the landscape. The regions productive farming industry is nourished by the rich soils produced by past volcanic activity.