A 6.5-magnitude earthquake rocked Wellington, New Zealand this morning at approximately 2:31 p.m this morning. Fortunately it’s currently being reported that little damage has been sustained in the island nation’s capital city and no serious injuries have been reported. The epicenter of the quake is thought to be on the country’s northern tip of its southern island, just across the Cook Strait from Wellington.
There were at least three aftershocks reaching up to 5.0 each on the Richter Scale, though according to the Chicago Tribune, “Fire authorities said it was too early to assess the impact fully. There were reports of superficial damage to buildings from the quake, which shattered windows and sent items tumbling from supermarket shelves.”
It’s a miracle that so little destruction has occurred as according to the description of the 6.0-6.9 range on the Richter Scale, we’re likely to see,
“Damage to many buildings in populated areas. Earthquake-resistant structures survive with slight to moderate damage. Poorly-designed structures receive moderate to severe damage. Felt in wider areas; up to hundreds of miles/kilometers from the epicenter. Damage can be caused far from the epicenter. Strong to violent shaking in epicentral area. Death toll ranges from none to 25,000.”
The tremors left a number of people stuck in claustrophobic situations, such as being trapped in elevators, but those rendered untouched were still left without means of transportation out of the metropolitan region. CNN notes that “Train services in and out of Wellington were suspended, worsening traffic congestion as lots of people left the city early by car and on foot.”
New Zealand is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire which has systematic seismic activity circumscribed throughout the entire oceanic region. A similarly scaled earthquake rocked the city of Christchurch in 2011, killing 185 people and razing much of the city’s downtown to the ground.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to BostInno for the latest information as we’ll be sure to keep you updated as more details continue to be made publicly available.
