Ormond earthquake - 10 August 1993

Report on visit to examine the effects on bridging

Abstract

The earthquake which shook Gisbome at 21.46h on 10 August 1993 was reportedly alarming to local residents and was felt widely across the North Island. The event is described separately in more detail in this Bulletin. Briefly, the earthquake has been preliminarily assigned a magnitude of ML 6.4 with a focal depth of 70 km. The epicentre was located 20 to 25 km north of Gisbome. Reports from the area were of only light building damage, and of bridging generally experiencing few problems, except that single lane traffic operations were necessary on two state highway bridges for a period after the event.