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As we continue to bring you faster information about New Zealand's geological hazards we are also continually working on our website. We have listened to feedback from our valued users and have now added Volcanic Alert Levels to the homepage, with a link to Volcanic Alert Bulletins. Now when you visit Geonet.org.nz you will see the latest earthquake activity, as well as the current status of our volcanoes.…

To the west of Wellington, the equivalent of a magnitude 7 earthquake is happening right now, 40 km below ground. This would be Wellington’s largest earthquake in 150 years, yet nothing is felt at the surface. Even our sensitive earthquake recording instruments hardly notice a thing. This is because, unlike a normal earthquake, these plate movements happen very slowly in a process known as “slow-slip events”.…