A magnitude 6.1 earthquake on the Richter scale struck near the New Zealand capital Wellington on Wednesday, February 15, 2023. The earthquake’s epicenter was 50 km from the city of Paraparaumu and the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of damage. It started at 19:38 local time (0638 GMT), striking 50 km northwest of Paraparaumu, a city in the southwestern North Island of New Zealand, and 55 km north of the nation’s capital megacity, Wellington, at a depth of 57.4 km, said the GNS Science, Xinhua News Agency also reported.
Wellington is on the southern end of the more vibrant North Island, which is responding to a cyclone this week that has left four people dead and is the South Pacific nation’s most destructive rainfall event in decades. While Cyclone Gabrielle is moving down from New Zealand, an unconnected rainfall system is ready to bring further heavy rain in the days ahead, which will increase the pitfalls of further landslides and flooding.
A nation of 5 million people sits on the “Ring of Fire,? a bow of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes are common. At the same time, a powerful earthquake and Cyclone Gabrielle devastated New Zealand! February is a terrible month for the entire world. Earthquakes and Cyclone Gabrielle, in particular, have already struck New Zealand. Last week, on February 6, an earthquake in Turkey shook the world because it killed over 47,000 people. Know all about the earthquake and what its cause is.