Canterbury & Christchurch Earthquakes 2013

Seismic activity in Canterbury and Christchurch New Zealand has acquired a renewed uptick, commencing January 2013.

[For prior documentation of quake events impacting the region, since the initial event of September 4 2010, please refer to posts such as Christchurch Shakes Again and Again. and the end of 2012 summary.]

This post operates like a timeline - scroll to end for latest updates
January 2013 data shows date time, magnitude, depth and location of a strong event.
Jan 19 2013 @ 9.15 pm M4.62, 11.8 kms deep, 380m from 265 Selwyn Rd Rolleston

This magnitude does not fall in the Top 100 range for the region (min Mag 4.74)
but there has not been one of similar size since April 12 2012 M4.60 in the east at New Brighton. Between April 12 2012 and prior to this 2013 event of M4.42, only 4 aftershocks have exceeded M4.6, all in the middle months of 2012, and the last being:

July 6 2012 M4.88  12.62kms deep, 130m from 246 Brookside Rd Rolleston Canterbury

What these two events have in common is their location in the region of  the eastern surface rupturing of the initiating Greendale Fault of September 2010.

On Jan 19 2013 further aftershocks were at 9.48pm (M2.38) - in the region of the first
On Jan 20 2013 two aftershocks ( M3.59, M3.05 occurred in the morning - 7.09, 7.17 am. Both of these were in the region of the western end of the Greendale fault.

A gradual quietening of activity in recent months has lulled locals into less expectation of jolts but local seismologist Mark Chadwick expects aftershocks in the range of M3.
Relatively shallow rumblings have reawakened.

   Updates are added to this 2013 log, as entries below, where necessary

References:
Data from Canterbury Quakelive

January 28 2013
Quakelive provides an intriguing data graphic re the time of day since Sept 4 2010 of quakes in Chch-Canterbury M3+. 
In overall frequency, 2pm is the top ranked time of day for the earth to move in the overall region of Canterbury in this current swag of seismic sequences.
2pm also has a sizeable chunk of the M4+ events - but not the most M5+ - that honour goes to 4am - and its neighbour 5am gets special mention for its top spot in the M4+ category

                                            CLICK to enlarge
As for the Top 5 since Sept 4 2010:

The time frames  around 4am, and 1-3pm also figure significantly

Visit their site for daily updates

January 30 2013
In a surprising development, (due to location) two aftershocks (?)  have occurred this afternoon, south of Akaroa on the seafloor - around latitude 43.53S - M3.79 and M3.11 in close succession

In the Top 100 events (M4.74 is current holder of the 100th position), the aftershock on Oct 8 2011 at 4.17 pm, M4.81, depth 7.18kms is the furtherest south event -  being in Richfield Road, Port Levy, which is 43.40S latitude

February 5 2013
This screenshot shows the latest 25 quakes across the region, largely forming a latitudinal band, with a spread from west to east & into seafloor zones

                                         click to enlarge                       source: Quakemap
The energy graphs on both Quakemap and Quakelive can be read as showing renewed vigour in this phase, occurring since late January 2013

Feb 10 2013
Clustering around New Moon, an area south east of Rolleston is showing a string of quakes up to M3.8, adding vigour to the energy output of this long sequence

                                                                source: Quakemap


Feb 13 2013
The noted focus around Rolleston continues in this snapshot from Quakemap showing the region of most of the prior 25 quakes. 6 of that 25 are in the range M3.3-M3.9 and 3 of this group are in the zone of most activity across the region, circled in image below;

February 22 2013

The two-year anniversary is commemorated in respect of the 2nd and most destructive event in the sequences since Sept 4 2010 - The Press reports
Almost as if in response, the largest shake since Feb 10 occurs in Pegasus Bay - 5 tonnes of energy at 9kms deep, at 2.54 am - yes the current sequence still contains considerable energy, being in a sustained up phase for the past month according to the energy graphs such as Quakemap

Quakelive graphic

Death of a Cathedral - a drone camera filmed inside the Christchurch Cathedral this week, upsetting and frustrating the Bishop Victoria Matthews, who says legal wrangles over the fate of the building are leading it to "die without dignity" with ongoing aftershocks and environmental effects. -
report and video
Interesting that the Christian perspective is so different from the Buddhist when it comes to change, transformation and death.  The acceptance of these three fundamentals of life is so central to Buddhist philosophy yet so problematic in a Christian framework.

A late night M3.9 quake in Pegasus Bay is the largest in the region since 19 January 2013 - this being 9 tonnes, 7.7kms deep around 11pm. Further confirmation of renewed energy in this sequence.

This Quakelive graphic shows that from mid July 2012-mid January 2013 there were repeated lulls in regional activity. since then, continual higher energy events up to M4.6 (Jan 19 2013)

For some perspective:
The initial rural Darfield, Canterbury quake of M7.1 on Sept 4 2010 released 671 kilotonnes of energy 

The next highest quake M6.3 -damaging central Christchurch released 49 kilotonnes

It takes at least a M5.2 to release a kilotonne.

It is currently around a 50/50 or even split in the top 25 quakes as to geolocation - west versus central and east to seafloor.

Clearly the much lower energy releases have extreme destructive potential, and anything over M7 is catastrophic if in an urban density.  

February 25 2013
Three of the largest quakes (M3.2-M3.9, from 8-12kms deep) in recent days have all occurred in Pegasus Bay showing renewed activation there.

March 13 2013
Quake energy across the region has declined since March 4 
Central city Red Zone footage taken recently shows the extent of the CBD still stuck in a time warp

The Press reports: 
The central city remains off-limits to residents.
The red zone, renamed the 'rebuild zone' by politicians, is expected to be reopened by June, although many areas will remain fenced off.

April 2013

The most recent 25 events March 27-April 9 -from M1.9 to M3.0

Coloured dots show variable depths. Though intensity & frequency have declined, recent activity is diverse across the region -north-south-east-west as shown on this clickable graphic from Quakemap

July 2013
After a lull mid May-mid June 2013, quake activity produced more energy in July, with more events over M3
July 29 2013
North Canterbury event felt in Christchurch
A M4.8 event , 9kms deep 20kms n/w of Culverden - south of Hanmer Springs -at 4.37pm confirms a new emphasis in the west and north of Christchurch - with more connection to faults associated with the major Alpine Fault - a specialty subject of Canterbury researcher Tom Robinson -video

PRESS news report July 29

August 2 2013
An uptick is evident in seismic energy output in the Canterbury region in the same time frame as significant quake activity is sustained in the Cook Strait region since July 19
M4.4 Swannanoa area around 4 am on this day
Last 100 quake snapshot from Quakelive shows widespread activity for events M3+ over the past 10 months

Update August 16 2013

This day saw a sudden resumption of high level seismic activity centred in Marlborough, with a M6.6 shake and strong aftershocks. This activity is consistent with the August -High Risk forecast published in June - which indicates further caution is recommended in the latter period of this month. Christchurch/Canterbury may well be registering resonant effects.

August report

update August 22 2013
Seismicity in the larger zone of Canterbury and northwards now figures prominently since the southward drift of quakes from the Seddon Sequence which began in July 2013.

This map segment from Geonet shows a background pattern over the past year with colour coding from grey to blue, green orange in increasing intensity - and does not include the Seddon quakes

September-October 2013

A largely unremarkable period with declining activity prevailing, many lull periods

November 2013

A pattern of very minimal activity interspersed with random higher events is continuing

November 18 M4.6 -via Quakelive

Monday 18 Nov 11.36pm M4.6 in suburban Christchurch, 137 tonnes, being the largest event in the region since October 1st 2013 M4.7 -  a seafloor event off New Brighton
report

This graphic section from Quakemap shows the pattern over the past year
No events over M5

November 18 2013 is the M4.6 event at extreme far right -and is the 3rd of this level in 12 months.
  

January 2013 destructive Pluto rages

                                         Jan 4 2013, smoke seen from above Hobart airport, Tasmania

The Australian wild fires, destructive winds, and rape are all big news in early January 2013 and the annihilating, murderous Pluto is highly activated. In transit at close to 10 degrees Capricorn, Pluto has conjuncted the sun since late December 2012 whilst also triggering the lunar nodes at close to 25 degrees Scorpio-Taurus.  Saturn also in Scorpio -but out of range of the nodes was fuelled by an exact square from Mars in Scorpio, plus a lunar conjunction in Scorpio in the middle of the day period (New Zealand D/L time (13hrs ahead of London) I certainly felt this intensity, in a rather irrational fashion at that time of the day.

But back to Pluto - in range of the nodes by semisquare ( powerful, not minor) for the whole first half of January 2013 = transformational, destructive & extreme forces of nature along with brutal, dominating human energies. These themes have connection to the zodiac sign Scorpio, which has an imperative of death & rebirth, with associated transformational life experiences, but also an underbelly of control & domination.

No wonder rape is in the global mindstream ( the accused in a New Dehli , India gang-rape are brought to court. The victim having died. Widespread national and international protests are likely to pressure the Indian government to enter the age of accountability and protect their female citizens from this most primitive of controls used by men. More cases of this kind of abuse are currently being exposed in India along with a very similar case from Fiji. In New Zealand a woman was raped and violently assaulted in an extreme manner, in a community garden, daytime on January 1 2013.

This is the Apocalyptic Era

The over-hyped Mayan apocalypse may have been majorly misinterpreted but their indications of a new age beginning may be the critical aspect. Eras don't tend to begin at a single date, though energetic forces clustering at a focal point may later be seen, with hindsight, to have heralded in a new cycle. In general this period around 2012 could be significant in ushering in not simply one single, final cataclysmic event but a sustained apocalyptic era of extreme natural and human forces, independently as well as synergistically operating with pronounced chaotic characteristics.
It's not that the planet has not experienced wild, chaotic and extreme conditions in prior decades, or millennia, but that with the bloated human population exceeding 7 billion at this time, the strain on natural resources along with detrimental human impact, is entering the feedback loop of chaotic natural systems. Furthermore, the apocalyptic vision is not from a natural perspective - for nature it is natural rebalancing - but with more humans on the planet, the impact upon human lives increases and thereby the potential for a greater sense of devastation as viewed from an anthropocentric position.
Even if, like I, you never received an upbringing infused with Christian teachings, you have probably heard of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and you have some basic notion that this is a prophetic vision of a world in serious decline. In prior periods this has had a variety of interpretations, dependent upon prevailing conditions. One which resonates strongly in this era is that the horsemen are the "angels of the four winds" - Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel which in terms of planet earth, represent the four cardinal directions N, S, E, W. The astrological correspondence is the four cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn - the ingress, or entry point of each at zero degrees is marked by either a solstice or equinox point in the annual calendar, around the 3rd week of March, June, September, December.
Pestilence (disease),war, famine and death are said to be associated with the four horsemen and these conditions have plagued humanity time and again over the course of our existence, in what might be seen as a cyclic healing and cleansing of our collective degenerate short-comings.
Reference to the astrological markers gives rise to the identification of this current period as an apocalyptic era.
Given the four winds of the four directions as a signifier, this is highly symbolic of the energetic forces which operate in the world, both on the level of natural elements, other sentient beings and in terms of the collective of human energies.
Both humans and nature are in a critical situation in this era and we are already witnessing the apocalyptic period if you care to take notice.
Imbalances of all kinds are the dominant condition, locked into a feedback loop that must deconstruct and destabilise before renewal. These processes are the work of the cardinal signs and we will continue to witness with great intensity at times the power of this transformation process manifested through natural forces (extreme weather, climate change -wind, deluge, flood, drought and structural rebalancing experienced as earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Regarding astrological signifiers, in this era, the lineup in cardinal signs includes the entry of Pluto into Capricorn in January 2008, Saturn into Libra in November 2009, Uranus into Aries in May 2010. In 2011 Jupiter joined this group while in Aries, so four transpersonal (i.e. relating to the human collective,) planets were in Cardinal signs (March-June 2011). 
As 2013 commences, Uranus resumes its synergy process with Pluto. Jupiter enters Cancer at the end of June 2013, accentuating the powerfully transformational mix of Uranus-Pluto in August 2013.
In December 2013, Mars, the activator and energiser enters Libra creating the full house of cardinal signs, with much intensity around the December Christmas-New Year period. (this is likely to correspond with earlier identified powerful envonmental effects) The four signs remain activated by the planets Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Pluto until mid July 2014 and there is then not another such period until September 2016, when these four planets again join forces in 3 of the cardinal signs  (October 2016 is notable, then June 2017). Beyond that, the gathering of Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn in 2020 will have major long-term implications for the nature of government, control, use and abuse of power as well as the environmental spectre of depleted resources and drought.
What can you do? Find balance within yourself, your own life situation, your relationship to all other sentient beings and life forms and with the natural world. That is what is being demanded.
Updates:
2013 has begun with dramatic news -from weather extremes to destructive human behaviour;

Though major, transformational natural events have always occurred on planet earth, in this era the frequency and severity of destructive natural events & weather is reflected in events such as:

Tasmanian wildfires of 2013

(in particular around Dunalley, January 2013)

Weather extremes  Pakistan bombing
Notes:
Image:Lorenz Attractor -Wikimedia - illustrating "sensitive dependence upon initial conditions."
Reference
More Lorenz chaos models

UN warning re extreme weather and the food supply crisis