Hobbiton Hit By Doublet Earthquake

Real-Life Hobbiton Shaken By Two Moderate Quakes

Mb 3.6, 25km north-east of Cambridge, New Zealand, 02:47 UTC, 05/11/14; Mb 3.8, 25km south of Te Aroha, New Zealand, 14:43 UTC, 06/11/14

The M3.8 earthquake today, seen on the Tahuroa Road seismograph just above the 4-hour timestamp. Other quakes: at 10 hours M2.7; two quakes after M3.8 are estimated at M2.9 & M1.5 respectively (not put up by GeoNet); at 2 hours M2.3.

Two moderate earthquake have struck near the town of Matamata, Northland Region, New Zealand, home to the farm in which the set for Hobbiton was built. Yesterday a local magnitude 3.6 earthquake struck at a depth of 7 kilometres; felt reports were received from Onemana (Coromandel Peninsula) in the north, Whakatane in the east, Putaruru in the south & Hamilton in the west. The worst felt intensities were received from the nearby towns of Matamata, Waharoa and Cambridge, with moderate felt intensities reported (MMI5). The earthquake gained 269 felt reports, a reasonable figure for a moderate quake in the Northland Region.

Then earlier today a preliminary magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck in pretty much the same location, at a focal depth of 7 kilometres. The quake was felt as far north as Coromandel, as far east as Te Puke, as far south as Taupo and as far west as Raglan. The worst felt intensities were once again in the nearby towns of Matamata, Waharoa & Cambridge, but also in Tirau (further south), Wilton (north-west of Waharoa) & the city of Tauranga on the Bay of Plenty coast, all with moderate felt intensities reported (MMI5). The earthquake has gained over 660 felt reports (as of 19:52 UTC), indicating a greater magnitude than the 5^th November earthquake.

Earthquakes in this part of New Zealand are comparatively rare. The last earthquake to strike this particular area occurred in August 2011, a magnitude 3.4 event. Other events in the Northland Region is recent years include a swarm on the Coromandel Peninsula in June 2013 (including magnitude 3.0 and magnitude 3.4 events) and a doublet earthquake in March 2013 north-east of Auckland (magnitude 3.1 & magnitude 3.9). The latter mentioned Auckland earthquake is the most felt quake in GeoNet’s history, with nearly 14,000 felt reports received and a maximum intensity of MMI6.

The current Matamata sequence (so far six recorded earthquakes by GeoNet, with two others between M1.5 and M2.9 unrecorded) is unlikely to continue for too much longer; like other swarm activity in the Northland region it very often has one or two moderate earthquakes and then disappears again very quickly. Nevertheless there is the potential for further earthquakes of similar size in the next few days in the Matamata region.

This article was written on the 6^th November 2014 by J H Gurney.