On Monday 15th November at 12:02 am a large earthquake occurred in the South Island of New Zealand, located 15 km north-west of the Canterbury town of Culverden at 15 km depth. The initial earthquake was followed by three further earthquakes with magnitudes >6 and thousands of aftershocks.Initial estimates of the magnitude have now been revised up from 7.5 to 7.8 (due to the complexity and duration of the rupture a more in-depth analysis of magnitude was required, as well as manual accessing of recording stations that lost communication during the event (www.geonet.org.nz)). The Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) at this stage is estimated to have been a maximum of 8.
