From the grandiose '14 steep sided fiords' carved by glaciers over the past 2 million years; to Te Anau, the closest town to iconic Milford Sound… Last week, Conservation workers in the South Island, rode the deep wave 7.8 quake... Image: Dunluce Travel site
Conservation, under nature's terms, means "renew & resituate."
Researchers from around the globe present assessments 7 days after the 7.8 quake; as the 30 day research, thus far, observes NZealand as remarkably intact.
"Basically, New Zealand just got a little bit bigger." #
David Brooks – Wed Jul 22, 8:49 am ET
WELLINGTON (AFP) – Earthquake scientist Ken Gledhill of GNS Science said the shift illustrated the huge force of the tremor, the biggest in the world so far this year... The latest quake was unusual in striking right on the boundary of the Australian and Pacific plates and will be important in researching earthquake hazards... read more.
From earlier News...
VIDEO: News- BIG SCREEN
"For a very large earthquake, although it was very widely felt, there were very few areas that were severely shaken," Gledhill said... Aerial inspection of the forested fiords near the quake's epicentre showed few land slips or other signs of damage.
This was partly because the type of rupture at the boundaries of the Australian and Pacific plates meant the energy from the quake was largely directed westwards towards the sea rather than inland towards the nearest towns. read.
It is also interesting that Fiordland weather is dominated by westerly air flows, making it extremely unpredictable and often dramatic...
Of course, with the countries separated by the 2,250-kilometre-wide (1,400-mile-wide) Tasman Sea, the 30 centimetre (12 inch) closing of the gap in New Zealand's southwest won't make much difference... But hey.
