Science Media Centre

It’s no secret that Auckland sits on a large volcanic field, but new research has modelled what would happen if there was an eruption within the city limits. The study, published last week in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, considered what could happen during a hypothetical two-month-long period of unrest and eruption near […]

Following the magnitude 7.5 earthquake near Kaikoura on Monday morning, people are likely to feel rattled especially during numerous aftershocks. We asked a psychologist who works in disaster recovery for his tips on coping through this period. [Note: since this was written, the November 14 earthquake had been upgraded to magnitude 7.8.] Associate Professor Sarb […]

A 6.4 magnitude quake struck the Japanese island of Kyushu this morning (New Zealand time), killing at least two people and injuring hundreds more. There are reports of substantial building damage with dozens of houses collapsing in the shaking, BBC News reports. Although the quake was not as strong as the devastating magnitude 9 quake […]

A second major earthquake has struck Nepal. The 7.3 magnitude quake comes after the widespread destruction caused by the 7.8 quake on the 25 April. Our colleagues at the UK SMC collected the following expert commentary. Prof Sandy Steacy, Head of School of Physical Sciences at The University of Adelaide, said: “Although today’s M = […]

On March 11 last year a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit off the coast of Japan triggering a powerful tsunami. Resulting waves reached heights of 40 metres and pushed a wall of seawater inland as far as 10 km in some regions. The human toll was immense, with over 15,000 people confirmed dead and an additional […]

Three robots may soon be involved in the Pike River mine disaster – an unprecedented number. The first robot, which stalled yesterday due to water damage, was restarted this morning, and managed to travel a kilometre into the mine before running out of batteries.  Before doing so, it captured footage of the helmet of one […]