"We've been observing slow-slip events in these regions (and Manawatu) for 15 years now, and we've never seen them happen in multiple locations all at once.
"But we've never tracked slow-slip events after a large magnitude 7.8 earthquake, so this could the normal pattern after such a large quake."
The slow-slip events may mean there's an increased risk of a magnitude 7.8 or greater quake in the lower North Island, GeoNet says.
"Apparently, we live on a fault line and that fault line ruptured. I was talking to one of the geologists, and she said the fault that ran under our houses was only a fault they suspected was there.
"It is totally surreal: you go to bed at night and the landscape is as you've known it for 21 years - and the next morning it has changed out of sight."
2016 has been awarded the dubious honour of most quakes ever recorded in GeoNet's 15-year history.
GeoNet's national monitoring network recorded 32,828 earthquakes last year.
The force of the quake was such that it was felt across the country. Even Auckland, usually immune to the fault lines which have plagued the south, felt the ground move.
In the wake of the recent earthquakes, awareness is rising over the risks chimneys pose to New Zealand housing.
The 2010 and 2011 Christchurch earthquakes caused significant damage to Strowan House, the 123-year-old homestead at St Andrew's College. This was largely due to the collapse of its seven large brick chimneys.
"At the end of the day a chimney is a chunk of masonry sitting on top of your house, and if it isn't properly reinforced, it could fall,"
"We've been observing slow-slip events in these regions (and Manawatu) for 15 years now, and we've never seen them happen in multiple locations all at once.
"But we've never tracked slow-slip events after a large magnitude 7.8 earthquake, so this could the normal pattern after such a large quake."
The slow-slip events may mean there's an increased risk of a magnitude 7.8 or greater quake in the lower North Island, GeoNet says.
"Apparently, we live on a fault line and that fault line ruptured. I was talking to one of the geologists, and she said the fault that ran under our houses was only a fault they suspected was there.
"It is totally surreal: you go to bed at night and the landscape is as you've known it for 21 years - and the next morning it has changed out of sight."
2016 has been awarded the dubious honour of most quakes ever recorded in GeoNet's 15-year history.
GeoNet's national monitoring network recorded 32,828 earthquakes last year.
The force of the quake was such that it was felt across the country. Even Auckland, usually immune to the fault lines which have plagued the south, felt the ground move.
In the wake of the recent earthquakes, awareness is rising over the risks chimneys pose to New Zealand housing.
The 2010 and 2011 Christchurch earthquakes caused significant damage to Strowan House, the 123-year-old homestead at St Andrew's College. This was largely due to the collapse of its seven large brick chimneys.
"At the end of the day a chimney is a chunk of masonry sitting on top of your house, and if it isn't properly reinforced, it could fall,"
