The occasional earth tremor in the UK can make headline news for days. However, we live a long way from a tectonic plate margin, so earthquake activity is rare and never serious. What is it like living on a tectonic margin with an ever-present earthquake risk? New Zealand lies on a destructive plate boundary where the Pacific plate meets and collides with the Australian plate.
The website www.geonet.org.nz maps earthquake activity and suggests what New Zealanders can do to prepare themselves for these events. Visit the website and you will see the pattern of recent seismic activity over the country. The colour code on the left-hand side indicates the intensity of each earthquake. Click the <Intensity> title and this links to an explanation of the Modified Mercalli (MM) scale experienced at the surface.
Your organisation does not have access to this article.
Sign up today to give your students the edge they need to achieve their best grades with subject expertise
Subscribe
