Traditional Earthquake myths exposed

No one even funds null hypotheses nowadays - the previous backbone of all science whereby the disproof has to first be denied. Some of these different viewpoints are below and may appear new because they are at variance with what media have been providing, nevertheless they are verifiable from many sources especially Geonet's own website of earthquake statistics. Further Googling will reveal the ideas are not mine alone.

The duration for any earthquake series from start to ease is usually 2-3 years, so it will be at least 2013 before Christchurch can breathe sighs of relief.  The truth is that since September 2010 there have been more earthquakes in size and magnitude in the NorthIsland than in the South Island, but media have been preoccupied with the tragic fatalities in the CTV building which may have had more to do with shonky construction than the quakes. Most buildings did not entirely collapse that day, and the media beat-up has spooked insurers, which is delaying the rebuild.

In Japan, where 80% of all world earthquakes occur, rebuilding is immediate after any big event. There is no wait and see in Japan, and no confusion of who is in charge. NZ has an opportunity to sort this before the next destructive above-7mag in NZ, likely to be in central NZ around 2015/16, with its epicentre between Marlborough and Wairarapa. But at the moment no one seems concerned.

Thousands of earthquakes occurred in Christchurch in 1869-70 which raised the seabed. The CBD rose where the sea had been, a mistake that lead to tragedy 150 years later. A second mistake would be to build again on that same reclaimed swamp. The south boundary for seismic activity is the Rakaia river, but appears no appetite to rebuild there.  Nor has there been analysis on whether new "fault lines" are going to appear in the north and west suburbs.

Earthquakes cause fault lines, not vice versa. Earthquakes cause “rubbing together” of tectonic plates, not vice versa. All planets have quakes because all planets have orbiting neighbours that stress electromagnetic fields of the parent bodies. Earthquakes are the tide of the earth responding to the pressure of the transiting moon and/or other extraterrestrials at significant angles.

Waves in the land happen every day as the land rises and falls, releasing internal pressure. They are called earthquakes only when this Land Tide (about 8" per day of vertical movement in NZ and 50cms in Australia) is a felt tremor. Earthquakes are a release of pressure, just as we shake with emotion. They are essential for the planet and without them there would have been no hills, valleys, rivers, harbours or fertile soil.

Due to earthquakes under the thin seafloor in sub-marine trenches which is where they chase fish shoals, marine mammals get concussed and float to the surface, to be floated in by the next and nearest tide unconscious or shell-shocked. It is why strandings in Asian countries are considered timings of earthquake clusters.

Earthquakes can be predicted. Kingtides are primarily in the land rather than the sea, and occur around lunar perigee. Larger quakes only come at kingtide times, and there is double the chance of a large earthquake during the week of perigee and new or full moon, as provable over the past 18 months. Most larger earthquakes arrive at low tide or high tide times.

Earthquakes cannot be predicted studying fault lines, anymore than tide times can be predicted by running seawater under a microscope. Earthquake signals are birds falling silent, high pressure wispy clouds, very high tides, still air, sea mammals stranding, and solar activity due to planetary alignments. Safer times are lesser tides, apogees, quarter moons, when winds are blowing, when birds are singing, and when clouds are low and when the sun is quiet.

Man cannot cause earthquakes, anymore than he can influence tides. Comets cannot cause earthquakes, nor Mayan calendars. Hydraulic fracking is too shallow to cause earthquakes (less than 5km down, earthquakes can come from 300kms down). Chem-trails are natural high cirrus ice or exhaust vapour icing up from high altitude jets. Higher pressure can accompany seismic activity, so vapour trails can indicate 'earthquake weather’ but they cannot cause earthquakes.

There is little or no tsunami risk to Christchurch. Tsunamis must come from Chile to reach here, giving us at least 12 hours warning.  In NZ’s known history there have only been 4 tsunami scares and no major damage. But in that time there have been 2 million earthquake events recorded here, a 0.0002% tsunami scare frequency. There is even less risk of volcanic activity for Christchurch. In our known history there has been no volcanic activity in the region, and volcanoes do not knock over buildings.

These are food for thought and worthy of public discussion if we are to move forward.  I am aware that not all may agree with all the above. But it would surely be folly to rush into unnecessary decisions that wasted public funds and labour resources if verifiable scientific information that challenged popular myths was being suppressed.

Ken Ring