Damson

I didn't want to hijack the wibble wobble thread, but just wanted a general opinion.How do you feel about earthquakes and does it affect your life? Like most, I suspect, they scare the living cr@p out of me. It is one of the things I stumble upon when thinking about moving there. Is it just a case of when you get there you almost don't notice/think about them, or is it a case you accept it as it going with the territory of living where you do? Did that last horrific "big one" change your thinking? DH is a structural engineer and we may therefore end up on South Island because of his skills. His way of looking at it though is that it will probably be safer there in newly-constructed buildings as they will have been built with enforced safety measures. I have said to the family I would like to live on North Island as it appears to shake a bit less than South and therefore may be a bit safer? On paper Napier looks lovely but that is getting ahead of myself and for another thread. The weather also looks better up north.
Edit, just looked at the link on the wibble wobble thread and the 5.8 quake is in North Island, so bang goes that theory!

Charismatic

It's a bloody outrage this government haven't stopped the quakes!

I'm fine with them really as long as it's not between 11pm and 7am or moments after setting a full cup of tea down.

Must: Carry on.
Mustn't: Grumble.

scrubbedexpat094

I love a bit of seismic activity, sadly we don't get that much of it north of Auckland. Mind you, I do think I might freak out if I was up the Sky tower and an earthquake occurred .

The volcanic field is still active in Auckland so it's conceivable that a new volcano could emerge at any time. If that happens many of us would be toast. I'm aware that it could happen in my lifetime potentially but I don't worry about it. We have an emergency kit set up in case of a natural disaster, must update it actually. Not checked it for a while.

Have you looked at the geology of New Zealand??? You mention Napier, I'd Google Napier + earthquakes if I were you .

Catchafire

We have had a couple of "grab the kids and get out" shakes here in Marlborough, Seddon just down the road was particularly affected.

After a while, you kind of get used to it, we had a couple a good aftershocks in the early hours, kids slept through em.

Keep calm and carry on!

Damson

So basically, adding in tsunamis, we need to live in Whangarei, up a large hill in a wooden structure then?!!! Not quite what I had in mind (although I'm sure Whangarei is lovely). Yes, Napier does seem a bit earthquake-friendly.
You are absolutely right charismatic, it sounds as if your politicians are as duff at looking after its citizens as the UK ones. Have they stopped charging us taxes though, no!
I'm not empathising with your feeling left out of having earthquakes vitalstatistix. I'd say hope it improves soon, but your neighbours may not be quite so relaxed as you.
My son can hear a fly fart at 100m catchafire so I don't reckon he would manage to sleep through anything - you sound lucky with your kids.

Hazelnut

We experienced a couple of light ones when we were on our fact finding trip. Both were enough to wake us in the night but it took a moment or two for us to realise that's what had woken us up and I think we'd have slept through if it hadn't been a novel nighttime disturbance for us.

We chatted about it and decided that a properly built NZ house and being aware of our workplace buildings potential shortcomings would mean we were no more at risk of dying or losing everything than in a UK house with poor wiring or in a flood zone.

I was reassured by speaking to some people who had lived through multiple earthquakes and said they simply went on with life, one said his house went a few feet sideways and up and down on it's substructure and was perfectly OK with just some cosmetic redecorating needing done afterwards. Staying with people who live in Christchurch and speaking to some of them was encouraging, the sense of renewal there and the energy and enthusiasm was impressive.

There's some good threads on here about making sure heavy furniture doesn't fall on you or ornaments break and putting an emergency kit together. I also read some of the information that came out post the major Christchurch earthquakes. There's websites to check when looking at land, lots of information about what type of housing to avoid etc.

MrsFychan

one of the reasons I do not want to be here when I am older, can't see me drop, cover and holding in my dotage, and it makes me think, at times, why did we bring the kids over here and put them in danger with the possibility of incident when/if the big one comes.

BEVS

I'll make no bones about this.

The first time I felt one was kinda interesting but then the novelty wore off . I hate the blimmin' things. My instinctive fight or flight kicks in & I cannot seem to make myself blase or philosophical about the potential outcome. To me they always signal strong possibility of bodily danger to myself and loved ones --- even the cat.

Then we get a period of no quakes at all. Not even teeny ones and I forget all about them.

We do have our quake ready kits at the property , in the car and I make husband have a bit in his van.

Quakes are random . You just cannot know.

It is something you live with .

Damson

It's both interesting and sobering reading all of your comments. I had thought that the overwhelming response would be that no-one really thinks about them as they are very common and "you don't notice them after a while". Cheers.

Justcol

wow really !!

you need a bit more drama in your life if your worrying about that


I've been here for seven years and haven't felt one yet. In fact I felt more quakes when I lived back home in
Manchester than I have here, so on that evidence I guess you have to ask where is it safer to live

And this is just to make the OP even more jittery
http://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes/felt


.

BEVS

Count yer blessings Col. As you know I really cannot be doing with them.

Bit like the sound of a very busy road you mean?

Nooooo. Some - many - you will not feel or hear as they are light or deep or both.

However, the larger ones you cannot help but notice . I've been at the top of my stairs and seen it undulate from side to side like a snake. Top floor going one way and ground floor the other. That is not nice.

I've been in my office when the desk and chair starts to jitter and judder followed by the something that sounds like the roar of a train or an aircraft.

For those , my area wasn't even the epicentre. Both necessitated some sort of action in case that was just the start of something bigger to come.

So. The possibility of being caught up in a major earthquake is real. This is part of the Pacific Rim. There will be quakes . Thatis certain but it is a lottery as to whether or not you will be directly effected in your NZ life.

MrsFychan

Lucky you Col, we felt 5 or more in the first few month of moving here, and not pleasant seeing the fear in your child's eyes knowing your actions have led to them now having to cope with something that they would not necessarily had to, along with all the other compromises associated with moving so far from what they knew as home.

jmh

It's all relative I guess. I was in Australia on a business trip a couple of years ago and I was telling them a story about how I couldn't sleep at night because of the huge insects crawling around the place. They laughed and said at least it was better than living in an earthquake zone.

To be honest, like many Aucklanders, I couldn't understand why so many people would live in Wellington when the risk of earthquakes is known down there. Still lots of people do, so I guess it can't be that bad. Lots of people live in LA and they say the big one is expected there too.

As Damson's structural engineer says, new buildings are supposed to be earthquake proof.

Not many parts of NZ are a Tsunami risk. You can see maps on the internet where the risk is assessed. I am on the coast and the risk is low in my area.

Catchafire

Much of it is also very much how we handle our own anxieties as parents.

We have a family friend who after the first big Seddon quake, slept with her kids in the living room for 5 weeks, ready to run out the house at a moment's notice.

MrsFychan

I can understand that Catcha, one of the bigger ones here I had the kids, dog and cat in with me and MrF. MrF wasn't particularly happy about it, so it may just be a mum/women thing but if push come to shove you know who would of had to sleep elsewhere