It's been a very shaky past few days in the Eastern Bay.
GNS have so far recorded over 760 earthquakes since the earthquake swarm began in the Kawerau area early Saturday morning.
Data shows the swarm has included 8 earthquakes over M4, with the largest to date recorded at a M4.8. The last recorded M4 + quake occurred yesterday morning. The large majority of the earthquakes have been between M2.0 and M2.9. The quakes have been shallow, with many recorded as less than 5km deep.
"A swarm is the term used to describe earthquakes of similar size that are clustered together in space and time, and they are not unusual," GNS Science Duty Seismic Officer, John Ristau says.
"The current swarm is in keeping with historic activity in the region and, though there is no scientific way to know for certain, we think the most likely scenario is that we will see this activity decrease over the next few days,"
"We believe this swarm to be tectonic in nature, due to the movement of active faults, and not related to volcanic unrest or geothermal activity,"
"We know ongoing earthquake activity is unsettling and encourage people that are wanting information and advice to keep an eye on our GeoNet app and web news." Ristau says.
Additional information regarding the earthquake swarm can be found here: https://www.geonet.org.nz/news/4PuHMfEQzaMgI9Hudgf8dp?fbclid=IwAR1d4TEj8uSAXGe0h3xVAUKF9x2cFBBQ5GNjWwUU43YSVOiA5eksqHkkcmE