Christchurch Quake Map

Daily Energy Release

The red line on this chart shows the total energy released each day (in Joules) and the equivalent magnitude if the day's energy had all been released in one earthquake. The equivalent magnitude may not be much higher than the strongest individual quake on that day, as it takes many smaller quakes to release as much energy as one larger one.

The orange line shows the total number of quakes each day. Move your mouse over the graph to see the number of quakes (individual energy / equivalent magnitude values will also appear).

The blue line indicates the energy released on that date in the year 2000, to give a rough idea of the level of activity we might have expected if we weren't experiencing the current aftershock sequence. Very few days had more than one quake, so the number of quakes per day is not shown.

Please note:
Today's reading will likely be low, especially early in the day; it will climb as quakes occur (and are subsequently reported). Previous days' readings should mostly be final, and change very little.