The 2013 Lake Grassmere earthquake was a
magnitude 6.6 earthquake that occurred at 2:31:05 pm (NZST) on Friday 16 August 2013. The epicentre was located about 10 km south-east of
Seddon, under
Lake Grassmere
Lake Grassmere / Kapara Te Hau is a New Zealand waituna-type lagoon in the northeastern South Island, close to Cook Strait. The lake is used for the production of salt.
Geography
Lake Grassmere, south of Blenheim and south of the mouth of ...
, with a focal depth of 8 km. The earthquake caused significant land damage in the local area, with landslips blocking roads, including the main highway between Blenheim and Christchurch. Buildings in Seddon were damaged, with some being declared uninhabitable. The earthquake was widely felt in both the North and South Islands of New Zealand.
Earthquake

This earthquake is considered to be a
doublet of a
magnitude 6.5 earthquake that occurred in Cook Strait on 21 July 2013 and is thought to have occurred on part of the same complex of faults.
It started its own aftershock sequence, with several magnitude 5 and one magnitude 6 earthquakes occurring in the first few hours after the main shock.
Aftershocks
The earthquake generated a significant series of aftershocks, the largest of which had a magnitude of 6.0.
Below is a list of all aftershocks magnitudes 5.0 and above that occurred in the region between 16 August 2013 and 5 September 2013.
Damage
In Wellington, the earthquake caused minor damage to buildings, breaking some display windows and cracking plaster. Many central city office workers left work early, and with all
suburban train services cancelled for urgent track inspections, bus services overloaded and traffic gridlock occurred on major roads out of the city for a couple of hours. The City Council ordered the deconstruction of a 30-year-old lift shaft that had been damaged in a previous earthquake in July, after recently installed emergency seismic restraints failed. Several surrounding buildings in the fall zone were ordered to be evacuated.
Seddon
The quake caused substantial damage to a number of residential homes in the Seddon area. Eight houses were evacuated by The Marlborough District Council and another 11 allowed only restricted access.
Rest of NZ
The quake was felt as far north as Auckland and far south as Dunedin. Damage was reported in the Kapiti Coast, Hutt Valley, Wellington, Blenheim, Ward and the rest of West Upper South Island.
See also
*
1848 Marlborough earthquake
The 1848 Marlborough earthquake was a 7.5 () earthquake that occurred at 1:40 a.m. on 16 October 1848 and whose epicentre was in the Marlborough region of the South Island of New Zealand.
In Wellington, the shaking lasted for about two mi ...
*
2013 Seddon earthquake
*
2016 Kaikoura earthquake
Sixteen or 16 may refer to:
* 16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17
*one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016
Films
* ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film
* ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film ...
*
List of earthquakes in 2013
This is a list of earthquakes in 2013. Only earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above are included, unless they result in damage and/or casualties, or are notable for some other reason. All dates are listed according to UTC time. This year was quite ...
*
List of earthquakes in New Zealand
*
Marlborough Fault System
References
External links
*
{{Seismic faults of New Zealand
2013 earthquakes
2013 Lake Grassmere
Lake Grassmere earthquake
Doublet earthquakes
August 2013 events in New Zealand
2013 disasters in New Zealand