BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:New Zealand's Greatest Historic Earthquake: Just how big was it? -
  Dr. Anne Hinton\, Visiting Scientist\, Department of Earth Sciences\, Cam
 bridge
DTSTART:20061106T181500Z
DTEND:20061106T193000Z
UID:TALK5814@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Francis Lucian Reid
DESCRIPTION:In 1855 the then fledging settlement of Wellington was shaken 
 by a\n'Magnitude 8+' earthquake. Recent work at Victoria University of Wel
 lington\nhas extended the maximum associated horizontal ground movement be
 yond that\noriginally recognized by Harold Wellman and Rodney Grapes. Othe
 r research\nthis century\, by the author\, suggests that the maximum verti
 cal component\nof movement was not as great as had previously been estimat
 ed.\n\nA tsunami\, reaching up to 9 to 10 metres above normal water levels
 \, was\nrecorded in association with the 1855 earthquake. This inundated p
 arts of\nthe south coast of the North Island\, washing through low-lying l
 and in and\naround Wellington\, including the present location of the capi
 tal city's\nairport. Landslides disrupted communication for a time\, altho
 ugh the\nelevation of much of the land in the vicinity of Wellington eased
  the\nconstruction of tracks along the sea shore.\n\nLoss of human life wa
 s not as great as in smaller magnitude earthquakes and\nother disasters of
  the twentieth century elsewhere in New Zealand. However\,\nthe 1855 earth
 quake was the second major quake to affect Wellington within\na decade. As
  such it had the potential to affect further migration to New\nZealand and
  it has been suggested that news about the earthquake was\ndown-played at 
 the time for political reasons.\n
LOCATION:I4 Corpus Christi College
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR