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Articles by Timothy Stern
Earthquakes can be destructive for distant cities built on top of basins-now we know why
Sedimentary basins – depressions in Earth’s crust caused by tectonic activity – tend to be flat and are favoured places to build cities. But during earthquakes, they can become natural resonance chambers. Just like sound waves echoing around an empty hall, this means seismic waves can get trapped in these basins and bounce from side to side to create “seismic echoes”. Depending on the shape and depth of the basin, these echoes can become amplified and be highly destructive.
Earthquakes can be destructive for distant cities built on top of basins—now we know why
A Wellington high-rise being demolished after damage from the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. Credit: Crispin Anderton/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA Sedimentary basins—depressions in Earth's crust caused by tectonic activity—tend to be flat and are favored places to build cities. But during earthquakes, they can become natural resonance chambers.
Earthquakes can be destructive for distant cities built on top of basins – now we know why
A Wellington high-rise being demolished after damage from the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. Crispin Anderton/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA Sedimentary basins – depressions in Earth’s crust caused by tectonic activity – tend to be flat and are favoured places to build cities. But during earthquakes, they can become natural resonance chambers. Just like sound waves echoing around an empty hall, this means seismic waves can get trapped in these basins and bounce from side to side to create “seismic echoes”.
Earthquakes can be destructive for distant cities built on top of basins – now we know why Original
Sedimentary basins – depressions in Earth’s crust caused by tectonic activity – tend to be flat and are favoured places to build cities. But during earthquakes, they can become natural resonance chambers. Just like sound waves echoing around an empty hall, this means seismic waves can get trapped in these basins and bounce from side to side to create “seismic echoes”. Depending on the shape and depth of the basin, these echoes can become amplified and be highly destructive.
Earthquakes can be destructive for distant cities built on top of basins – now we know why
Timothy Stern, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Mon 15 June 2026 at 12:54 am UTC 4 min read Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. A Wellington high-rise being demolished after damage from the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. Crispin Anderton/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA Sedimentary basins – depressions in Earth’s crust caused by tectonic activity – tend to be flat and are favoured places to build cities.
Investigating links between three earthquakes in New Zealand
The Tonga Kermadec subduction zone stretches between New Zealand and south of Samoa. Credit: USGS, CC BY-SA A sequence of three major offshore earthquakes, including a magnitude 8.1 quake near the Kermadec Islands, triggered tsunami warnings and evacuations along the east coast of New Zealand on the morning of March 5. By early afternoon, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) lifted the evacuation order but stressed that people should stay off beaches and the shore.
Were Friday's earthquakes linked?: Seismologists search for answers
© Getty Images Three earthquakes occurred off the shore of New Zealand on Friday. © Provided by Newshub By Timothy Stern for The Conversation A sequence of three major offshore earthquakes, including a magnitude 8.1 quake near the Kermadec Islands, triggered tsunami warnings and evacuations along the east coast of New Zealand this morning. By early afternoon, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) lifted the evacuation order but stressed that people should stay off beaches and the shore.
Karen V. Johnson and Timothy S. Stern: Anne Arundel council should force schools to invest in transportation
“Nana, I don’t want to go to school on the school bus because it doesn’t feel safe.” This is what Toni Pratt, a leader from Anne Arundel Connecting Together, told us her granddaughter said to her one day. “After being so excited to finally get on that big yellow school bus, she started to hate it.
Scientists Just Discovered New Zealand Sits on an Ancient Volcanic Super Plume
SIMON LAMB AND TIMOTHY STERN, THE CONVERSATION 31 MAY 2020 Back in the 1970s, scientists came up with a revolutionary idea about how Earth's deep interior works. They proposed it is slowly churning like a lava lamp, with buoyant blobs rising as plumes of hot mantle rock from near Earth's core, where rocks are so hot they move like a fluid. According to the theory, as these plumes approach the surface they begin to melt, triggering massive volcanic eruptions.
New Zealand sits on top of the remains of a giant ancient volcanic plume
Credit: Ewing. Author provided Back in the 1970s, scientists came up with a revolutionary idea about how Earth's deep interior works. They proposed it is slowly churning like a lava lamp, with buoyant blobs rising as plumes of hot mantle rock from near Earth's core, where rocks are so hot they move like a fluid. According to the theory, as these plumes approach the surface they begin to melt, triggering massive volcanic eruptions.
New Zealand sits on top of the remains of a giant ancient volcanic plume
Back in the 1970s, scientists came up with a revolutionary idea about how Earth’s deep interior works. They proposed it is slowly churning like a lava lamp, with buoyant blobs rising as plumes of hot mantle rock from near Earth’s core, where rocks are so hot they move like a fluid. According to the theory, as these plumes approach the surface they begin to melt, triggering massive volcanic eruptions.
Satellites reveal melting of rocks under volcanic zone, deep in Earth's mantle
Volcanoes erupt when magma rises through cracks in the Earth’s crust, but the exact processes that lead to the melting of rocks in the Earth’s mantle below are difficult to study. In our paper, published today in the journal Nature, we show how it is possible to use satellite measurements of movements of the Earth’s surface to observe the melting process deep below New Zealand’s central North Island, one of the world’s most active volcanic regions.
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