English: This is a seismogram from the South Karori seismic station in New Zealand. The prominent noise was caused by shock waves from a magnitude 6.0 earthquake that hit offshore New Zealand at 7:37 PM, local time, on 5 April 2021. The quake was measured at magnitude 6.2 by New Zealand's seismic network. The epicenter was about 102 kilometers east-northeast of the northeastern-most point of New Zealand's North Island.

This was a subduction zone earthquake. The Pacific Plate is subducting ~westward beneath the Australian Plate in the New Zealand area. The subduction zone's surface expression is a deep seafloor trough called the Kermadec Trench.

See info. at: earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000dz3c/exec... and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermadec_Trench

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An earthquake is a natural shaking or vibrating of the Earth caused by sudden fault movement and a rapid release of energy. Earthquake activity is called "seismicity". The study of earthquakes is called "seismology". The actual underground location of an earthquake is the hypocenter, or focus. The site at the Earth's surface, directly above the hypocenter, is the epicenter. Minor earthquakes may occur before a major event - such small quakes are called foreshocks. Minor to major quakes after a major event are aftershocks.

Most earthquakes occur at or near tectonic plate boundaries, such as subduction zones, mid-ocean ridges, collision zones, and transform plate boundaries. They also occur at hotspots - large subsurface mantle plumes (Examples: Hawaii, Yellowstone, Iceland, Afar).

Earthquakes generate four types of shock waves: P-waves, S-waves, Love waves, and Rayleigh waves. P-waves and S-waves are body waves - they travel through solid rocks. Love waves and Rayleigh waves travel only at the surface - they are surface waves. P-waves are push-pull waves that travel quickly and cause little damage. S-waves are up-and-down waves (like flicking a rope) that travel slowly and cause significant damage. Love waves are side-to-side surface waves, like a slithering snake. Rayleigh waves are rotational surface waves, somewhat like ripples from tossing a pebble into a pond.

Earthquakes are associated with many specific hazards, such as ground shaking, ground rupturing, subsidence (sinking), uplift (rising), tsunamis, landslides, fires, and liquefaction.

Some famous major earthquakes in history include: Shensi, China in 1556; Lisbon, Portugal in 1755; New Madrid, Missouri in 1811-1812; San Francisco, California in 1906; Anchorage, Alaska in 1964; and Loma Prieta, California in 1989.