Strong Quake Shakes Central New Zealand

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A magnitude 6.4 earthquake shook central New Zealand early Monday, waking people and tossing items from shelves but causing no injuries, emergency services reported.

The strong quake was centered in the Tasman Sea, 100 miles northwest of the capital, Wellington. The offshore quake did not generate a tsunami in the sea, which lies to the west of New Zealand, separating it from Australia.

Emergency services said they had received some reports of items falling from shelves as the quake rocked commercial buildings and houses across a wide area.

Police reported that the temblor was felt from New Plymouth on North Island's west coast and across central New Zealand to Christchurch on South Island's east coast.

New Zealand sits above an area of the earth's crust where two tectonic plates are colliding and records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year. Only about 150 are felt by residents, and fewer than 10 a year cause damage.

Well, this says 5.4....

Hmmmmmmm...

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Magnitude 5.4 - COOK STRAIT, NEW ZEALAND
2005 March 13 15:08:12 UTC Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver

A moderate earthquake occurred at 15:08:12 (UTC) on Sunday, March 13, 2005. The magnitude 5.4 event has been located in COOK STRAIT, NEW ZEALAND. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)

Small map showing earthquake


Magnitude	5.4
Date-Time	Sunday, March 13, 2005 at 15:08:12 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time Monday, March 14, 2005 at 4:08:12 AM = local time at epicenter
Location	40.132°S, 173.683°E
Depth	144.6 km (89.9 miles) set by location program
Region	COOK STRAIT, NEW ZEALAND
Distances	125 km (75 miles) SSW of New Plymouth, New Zealand 160 km (100 miles) NW of WELLINGTON, New Zealand 165 km (105 miles) W of Palmerston North, New Zealand 250 km (155 miles) NE of Westport, New Zealand
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 14.5 km (9.0 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters	Nst= 36, Nph= 36, Dmin=156.8 km, Rmss=1.33 sec, Gp= 83°, M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=8
Source	USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	usvpak
Felt Reports	Items knocked from shelves in parts of central New Zealand. Felt from New Plymouth on the North Island to Christchurch on the South Island.

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