A swarm has been on going to the west of there since Monday 13 February. To date GeoNet has recorded and located 879 earthquakes in this swarm, the largest event is a M3.8 on 21 February at 9.35 pm. There have only been ten events larger than M3 in the swarm. The number of events per day is variable, typical of swarms. The events are occurring between about 4 and 10 km depth and most are in the 5-8 km depth range. The Taupo Volcanic Zone is a rifting area, growing wider each year by 6-9 mm. These earthquakes are located on the western boundary and are likely to be related to the long-term ‘tectonic’ stretching of the Zone. Currently, there are no indications that the earthquakes are related to volcanic activity, being located well away from the active volcanoes.

In the last day the swarm activity has increased with 249 locatable earthquakes occurring. The pulse of activity has included 6 earthquakes larger than M3, ranging from M3.0 to 3.5 in size. The depths remain in the 5-8 km range. The larger events came towards the start of the pulse in the last day and less events and smaller ones have occurred over night. As usual, we continue to closely monitor the activity.