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26 March is the 77th anniversary of the first of two severe earthquakes that occurred off the coast of Tairāwhiti Gisborne in 1947. This earthquake generated one of the largest tsunamis in New Zealand's historical records. It was observed along 115km of coastline and caused damage to beachside cottages and buildings, bridges, fences, and roads.


In addition to a recent drop in lake temperature, in recent weeks Ruapehu has experienced some minor earthquake activity. Although the nature of the earthquakes is quite uncommon for Ruapehu, our analyses since our last bulletin do not raise any concerns. Other monitored parameters have not changed since last week’s bulletin, and volcanic activity remains low. The Volcanic Alert Level remains at 1 and the Aviation Colour Code at Green.


Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, we have faults everywhere, but what exactly are they? And why do they mean we have earthquakes?


Welcome, haere mai to another GeoNet Data Blog. Today’s blog is about two methods we can use to retrieve data from autonomous recorders installed around Aotearoa-New Zealand. What they are, why we almost exclusively use one method and not the other, and how they deal with communications outages.


Te Wai ā-moe (Ruapehu Crater Lake) has started to cool again, marking the end of the heating episode that started mid-October 2023. Temperature is currently 24 °C, down from its peak at 31 ºC on 14 February 2024. Other volcanic monitoring indicators remain within normal ranges and Volcanic activity remains low overall. The Volcanic Alert Level remains at 1 and the Aviation Colour Code at Green. 


Three years ago today, 5 March 2021, New Zealand experienced an extraordinary day of three large offshore earthquakes – each one triggering a tsunami threat to coastal dwellers in the North Island.


In 2023 we located 21,300 earthquakes in and around Aotearoa New Zealand. So, is that a lot for us? It’s actually pretty spot on!


Recent gas and observation flights over Whakaari/White Island confirm the level of activity remains low. The primary surface activity is steam and gas emissions from the active vents with minor geysering in two craters. There is no evidence of any eruptive activity. The Volcanic Alert Level remains at 2.


Te Wai ā-moe (Ruapehu Crater Lake) has entered a new heating episode, currently being 29 °C. Other volcanic monitoring indicators remain within normal ranges. Volcanic activity remains low. The Volcanic Alert Level remains at Level 1 and the Aviation Colour Code at Green.


10 years ago, on 20 January 2014 at 3:52 pm a M6.2 earthquake occurred 15 km east of Eketāhuna, under the south-east of the North Island. The quake was felt strongly in both islands, with multiple reports of damage.