Latest from Natural Science

Explained: The science of ... aftershocks

By noon today, scientists had recorded nearly 5000 aftershocks from last Monday's big shake. But what are aftershocks and what can they tell us? Jamie Morton explains.

Pumice raft points to mystery eruption

A pumice raft spotted by a Royal New Zealand Air Force crew has pointed to a possible major undersea eruption somewhere in the Tonga-Kermadec volcanic arc.

NZ's sinking, rising landscape

Parts of New Zealand are sinking at faster rates than others and will be subjected to higher levels of future sea level rise, a scientist says.

New insights: How quake shook seabed

Scientists have revealed astonishing new insights into how the 7.8-magnitude quake affected New Zealand's seabed.

Kaikoura Quake: How has wildlife fared?

How has Kaikoura's world-famous wildlife responded to the 7.8 earthquake? Science reporter Jamie Morton looked at what we know so far.

Q&A: Studying the quake's impact on marine life

Canterbury University marine ecologist Dr Sharyn Goldstien has been on the ground investigating what the freshly-raised coast at Kaikoura has meant for ocean ecosystems.

200km quake monster: How it jumped

Monday's 7.8 quake was bafflingly complex in some ways, but simple in others. Science reporter Jamie Morton delved into the data to look at what we know so far.

M5.0 aftershock hits near Kaikoura

The probability of another 7.0-plus quake striking have fallen further, GeoNet reported today, but large aftershocks are still likely across a large area of New Zealand.

Quake: The power of 400 atom bombs

The escalation of the Kaikoura Earthquake in magnitude from 7.5 to 7.8 now puts its power on a par with the equivalent energy release of 400 atomic bombs detonating.

New quake threat: 150m dam could 'rapidly fail'

Civil Defence is warning that a 150m high dam is at risk of failure after heavy rain.

Landslides: Engineers face 'unprecedented' task

Geotechnical engineers face an "unprecedented" challenge in tackling the many large landslides that have blocked quake-damaged Kaikoura's coastal State Highway 1.

7.8 quake: How does it compare?

The elevation of Monday's quake from a magnitude 7.5 to 7.8 makes it compare in size only with four other New Zealand quakes in the past 150 years.

Kaikoura quake: a scientist's perspective

What's it like to be part of the team at GNS Science when a big quake hits? Seismologist Dr Helen Anderson shares an insight.

Can animals sense earthquakes?

The latest earthquake again prompted reports of animals behaving strangely just before the main shock hit. What does science say?

Volcanoes keep quiet amid quakes

It appears our volcanoes have slept through the Kaikoura quake, with monitoring equipment showing only a few tremors over recent days.

GeoNet: 22% chance of 7.0+ aftershock this month

The probability of another huge quake over magnitude 7 in the next 24 hours has been put at 4 per cent - but at 14 per cent in the next week and 22 per cent across the next 30 days.