It’s episode 16 of the podClast. This episode discusses the magnitude 7.1 earthquake which struck Christchurch New Zealand at 04:36  NZST on 2001-09-04. We discuss the damages, the geological setting and other bits and pieces relating to New Zealand seismicity.

Participants

Chris - goodSchist (@yorrike)
Ron - Ron Schott’s Geology Home Companion Blog (@rschott)
Chris - Highly Allocthonous (@allocthounous)
(links in brackets are Twitter feeds)

Christchurch / Canterbury Earthquake

The seismic data of the earthquake can be found at Geo Net and the USGS.

Chris has a good summary of the Tectonics of the M7 earthquake near Christchurch, New Zealand.

The New Zealand Herald has a really good summary of the facts surrounding the quake.

Pics of NZ EQ surface rupture – could be a clay cake deformation experiment http://bit.ly/bzAbz1 (via @eruptionsblog).

Nice map animation of the #nzquake main shock & aftershock sequence http://bit.ly/9TWoIc (via @Allochthonous).

Liquefaction caused mud/sand volcanos to erupt on the streets & gardens of Christchurch. Some nice photos: http://bit.ly/91DYaQ (via @Allochthonous).

More damage in NZ, bridge looks like an optical illusion http://twitpic.com/2l0ahe (via @herasings).

BGS press release on #nzquake has map of all >M6 quakes since 1843. Clear seismic gap on central Alpine fault http://bit.ly/9mQRKo (pdf, via @Allochthonous).

Nice summary of #nzquake from Prof. Euan Smith http://bit.ly/9tYmEe [esp. rupture characteristics, risk of future quakes] (via @Allochthonous)  - Euan was one of my lecturers when I did undergraduate geophysics.

Google Earth Visualisation of the #nzquake & aftershock sequence http://bit.ly/9Cpnog (via @Allochthonous).

There’s ariel footage of the damage area.

The NZ Herald says that 20% of houses in Christchurch are now uninhabitable.

Ole Nielsen talks about the Earthquake in New Zealand – and “Beach Balls”.

In case you’re wondering, no there haven’t been more earthquakes than normal recently.

Geographile has a post with a collection of pictures of damage.

And Cosmic Log talks about why the Christchurch quake in no Haiti.

And for a retrospect, Wikipedia has a list of all >M 6 earthquakes to have been recorded in New Zealand.

Contributing

If you’re keen to hear a specific topic talked about, or would like to join the discussion during the next episode, either leave a comment below or email chris [the at symbol] goodschist.com. You’ll probably also do well reading the details on joining the podclast. If you don’t have the time to join us but would like to contribute a 3-5 minute audio clip to the show simply record it, make sure it’s an mp3, and send it to the address above.

Credit

The intro and exit music was Roots Fi Cool by Burning Babylon.

Text Addresses

The post that accompanies this podcast can be found ahttp://www.goodschist.com/2010/09/07/the-podclast-episode-16/or http://bit.ly/aIhSXi and an archive of all podClasts can be found at http://www.goodschist.com/category/podclast/

Perhaps enamored by such “scientific” “triumphs” as The Core and 2012, the main stream media decided to employ superlatives, overtly panicky headlines and outright lies to gain hits and advertising dollars. Had they simply asked a geologist what to expect, perhaps this page wouldn’t have been necessary. The time for giving a pass for scientific ignorance and lying is over. If your organisation appears in the list below, which has been amassed by a massive range of geologists and other scientists online, you should be absolutely ashamed.

Reuters – Tsunami brings flooding to Australia (as it appeared on stuff.co.nz) – If you read the article, it says nothing of the sort. (via @Yorrike / www.goodschist.com)

Garry at Geotripper bemoans the expectation of the MSM with What? You Were Expecting This? (via Geotripper)

Erik at Eruptions posts Chilean earthquake fallout: MSNBC implies nature is “out of control” – which is an astonishing headline for MSNBC to post. Astonishing in it’s stupidity (via Eruptions).

Lockwood posted this staggering video of CNN reporter Rick Sanchez asking “9 Meters In English Is What?” It’s 9 meters you twit. Or for a rough calculation in feet times it by 3 (via Outside the Interzone). There’s a takedown of Sanchez at Phreatic: Anchorperson Science Stupidity Award.

Reuters (again) – reports that Japan nuclear plants continue ops after tsunami. The height of the Tsunami waves that his Japan? 0.6 metres (22 inches in English). What a pointless article. A more interesting article would have been along the lines of “Japan shuts down nuclear plants in preparation for tsunami,” but then again, that’d be a worthwhile thing to read about.

The Mirror is so blasé about the whole topic, it’s reports on the Millions in fear of tsunami that never came following Chile quake. Yeah. All of us who live around the Pacific look pretty stupid being prepared for a natural disaster.  Here’s a quote for that article:

They battened down the hatches or simply prayed after one of the planet’s most powerful earthquakes struck South America.

But experts’ predictions of huge waves sweeping across the Pacific and smashing 53 countries proved to be a false alarm last night.

[...]

California, Tonga, Samoa and New Zealand there were small waves and flooding with little damage. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology cancelled its tsunami warning last night.

Really? Experts predicted that? I have to be honest, I have serious doubts you actually listened to an expert on the topic. And a false alarm? “There’s a possibility of large, damage-causing event happening in the coming hours” is a false alarm now? It’s not a real alarm unless it happens? It’s not a false alarm, it’s a triumph of scientific intrigue, investigation and monitoring which could have resulted in saving millions (MILLIONS!) of lives. And the last quoted line there – I live in New Zealand, there was NO flooding and NO damage, liars.

The Associated Press notes that it’s now necessary that Scientists defend warning after tsunami nonevent. Again, it was a warning and something that’s only been possible in the last 50 years. You’d prefer nothing? This story does have a good point at the end, though:

But Okamoto said his family understands the tsunami threat better than most because some of his relatives lived through the tidal surge in 1960. They remember how the water was sucked down the beach moments before the wave hit.

“My uncle was on the top floor when all the water washed away and all the kids ran out to grab the fish and before they could get back, the wave came. He was way up top, he saw all his friends get washed away and none of them were found, ever,” Okamoto said, as he sat with his father in a hotel lobby. “They did the right thing.”

And that’s the only conclusion you can reach on this story. There was a warning, luckily it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but had it been the worst case scenario, you’d be thankful there was a warning at all. Perhaps the article should have been titled “Scientists pleased with warning system and response, urge countries at risk not to become complacent”.

Have you seen any other panic-inducing anti-scientific howlers like those above? Post a link int he comments section here, or Tweet it with the hashtag #tsunamistupid

Bart Hanson (09:08 pm Sep 18 2009) This article epitomizes my disgust for experts who cannot tell us when the next huge natural disaster will hit and merely being in a particular place at that moment will decide who lives and who dies, but still we are being told not to be complacent? Like hell, get stuffed I’ve got better things to worry about.

You are beyond ignorant if you think the experts can even start to accurately predict earthquakes or many other major natural disasters. Even having a basic grasp of geology of seismology will tell you that these things are not predictable to within a useful accuracy or precision. We had a discussion about the dangers, and inadequacies, of earthquake prediction in Episode 11 of the podClast.

Other things science can’t do: accurately predict when the next killer asteroid will strike the Earth. The reasons are the same, there’s not enough data on either scenario in order to make an accurate, down to the minute-, hour-, month-, year- or decade-accurate forecast or as to exactly where either event will exactly occur.

The best geologists can do is look to the past, i.e, the old geology phrase “The past is the key to the future.” If a fault has ruptured roughly once every 100 years (and you’d be able to see this in the geological record), you should expect it to do so again in 100 years since the previous event. Or 150 years. Or 80 years. Earthquakes don’t run on a precision clock, and thus are never “early” or “overdue”. They occur when they occur.

If you’re caught out by having “better things to worry about”, Mr Bart Hanson, don’t go crying to others for food, shelter or clean water when you are caught in a natural disaster. Obviously the tiny amount of effort it takes to store some water, canned food and other supplies somewhere (details here at the USGS) is far outweighed by your necessity to spend time complaining on the internet.

Being prepared for natural disasters is important. Like not paying tax, not taking medication or indulging in smoking, you may think you’re getting away with it, but after a while, it could catch up with you, and the results could, literally, be deadly.

If you live in an earthquake zone, like I and many others do, the seriousness of being prepared cannot be overstated. Again, a list of the things you need can be found at the USGS. It’s not difficult and it could well save your life.

This week’s episode discusses the L’Aquila earthquake in Italy and the associated earthquake predicition, more on Mt Redoubt in Alaska, geology in the movies and more.

Participants (links in brackets are Twitter feeds)

Chris - goodSchist (@yorrike)

Ron – Ron Schott’s Geology Home Companion Blog (@rschott)

Jess – Magma Cum Laude (@Tuff_Cookie)

Italian Earthquake

The USGS has the raw details of the M6.3 earthquake.

Chris from Highly Allochthonous discusses the tectonic setting of the quake as well as the foreshocks and aftershocks.

Kim from All My Faults Are Stress Related talks about earthquake predicition, including that made by Iben Browning.

Ole from Olelog also discusses earthquake prediction in L’Aquila Earthquake – Followup.

Andrew from About:Geology calls the prediction irresponsible,  and so does the New York Times.

And the report from the BBC concerning the destruction that occurred is worth a look too.

Mt Redoubt

There’s a good summary of rticles regarding the previous set of eruptions from the podClast episode 10.

This is the picture Ron mentioned of the growing lava dome from the Alaskan Volcano Observatory.

Next Episode – Geoblogger in the Pub

We like to have a new episode of the podClast every fortnight. The next episode, however, will be recorded live at the Geobloggers in the Pub, in London on the afternoon of Saturday the 2nd of May. We’ll be drinking at the Cittie of Yorke, 22 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6BN from 2pm onwards. If you’re in the London area and would like to join in, check out this post for details (http://is.gd/tpFI).

Contributing

If you’re keen to hear a specific topic talked about, or would like to join the discussion during the next episode, either leave a comment below or email chris [the at symbol] goodschist.com. You’ll probably also do well reading the details on joining the podclast. If you don’t have the time to join us but would like to contribute a 3-5 minute audio clip to the show simply record it, make sure it’s an mp3, and send it to the address above.

Credit

The intro and exit music was Roots Fi Cool by Burning Babylon.

Text Addresses

The post that accompanies this podcast can be found at http://www.goodschist.com/2009/04/20/the-podclast-episode-11/ or http://is.gd/tpI9 and an archive of all podClasts can be found at http://www.goodschist.com/category/podclast/

Earthquakes in Italy are not unusual. The collision of the African tectonic plate with the European portion of the Eurasian plate cause these seismic events just as in any other tectonic collision. What IS unusual about this particular event, however, is the strength of the quake. Below is a map of all earthquakes in this area between 1973 and today from the USGS.

So since 1973, there have been 11 earthquakes in the Italy/Northern Africa region of magnitude 6 and above (0.5%), vs 2,234 earthquakes between M4 and M5.9. This is also expected, as smaller earthquakes are simply more common than large ones, but there’s a stark contrast here as all of the strongest quakes are extremely shallow (<33 Km in depth) while weaker quakes vary across the entire lithosphere/upper mantle (due to the nature of this collision). As a contrast, here’s the same segmented data from New Zealand:

Earthquakes in New Zealand >M6 (left) vs M4-M5.9 (right)

That’s 46 earthquakes of M6 or greater (1.25%), and 3660 quakes between M4 and M5.9. You’ll notice there’s a spread of depths with both quake groups in the New Zealand case, due to the subduction-related interactions of the Pacific and Australian plates (with a patch of ≥M6, 300-500 Km, purple, earthquakes at the start of the Kermadec arc, a classic case of back arc volcanism).

If you’re interested in the human side of this story, the BBC has an article about the 27+ deaths and building damage which includes video.