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Kayla Fortson

AP English

12 December 2016

Is New Zealands Economy At Stake?

New Zealand is a country that is made up of two Islands which is southeast and close to
Australia, surrounded by the Southwestern Pacific Ocean. The Capital is Wellington and the
population is averaged to around 4.471 million.The Island is known for its warm climate
throughout the year and the landscape and geography and its popular to have recurring
earthquakes and aftershocks. Most people think that New Zealand is a continent, but it is not.
The country is similar to the size of Colorado which is apart of the United States. Settlers on
New Zealand, begin as early as 1000 BC. Earthquakes, causes a split in the ground due to the
movement of tectonic plates.
On November 14, 2016, New Zealand had its recent earthquake which was an average of
7.8 magnitude. At least two people were killed during the quake and a lot of homes and other
buildings were damaged. The location of this earthquake was in Amberley, Canterbury, New
Zealand. The earthquake had a 53 km depth, and the recorded time was Sunday, November 13
2016 11:02 am. New Zealands economy has recently been destroyed due to New Zealands
November earthquake, and currently the New Zealand and United States government are sending
officials to help. The US department of defence, deployed USS Sampson to help aid New
Zealanders. Sampson was also the first warship to visit New Zealand after 30 years. US defence
officials said The guided missile destroyer USS Sampson is rushing to New Zealand to help

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those affected by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake...Navy Admiral Harry Harris, the Pacom
commander, said the ship carries two MH-6oR Seahawk helicopters that will be invaluable at the
scene...The aircraft is based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. Citizens from Australia are also
sending in help for their nearby country. Officials have reported that there has been at least six
sightings of aftershocks. There has also been a recording of at least 42 seismic events. The prime
minister John Kitchener, hosted a meeting at the local Cathedral for citizens of New Zealand to
help each other through the aftershocks of the earthquake, and the aftermath. People from nearby
islands have bought food, water, and other essentials that victims from the earthquake cannot
obtain easily.

Although this isn't New Zealands first earthquake, the damage of this specific earthquake
is enough to stand out from the rest of their past earthquakes. On average, studies show that New
Zealand has around 20,000 earthquakes per year. Though the majority of these earthquakes are
small, around 250 are actually felt by New Zealand citizens. Seeing as though New Zealand is a
island, It is not as easy to recover from a large earthquake then a country bordered by other
countries. The biggest earthquake in New Zealands history, was the Wairarapa in 1855 which
had a magnitude of 8.2. Looking at the earthquake on an international perspective, this particular
earthquake is important because of the significant amount of land area that was affected, and its
fault movement. Around 5000km was shifted vertically, and the maximum horizontal movement
near the fault was 18m. This is also the largest recorded displacement on a vertical fault line.

Although the physical aftermath of New Zealand is important, there are concerns about
whether or not their economy is at stake. New Zealands economy, has recently been destroyed
due to New Zealands recent November earthquake. In the past, New Zealands past economy

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after the Christchurch quake in 2011, was tremendously affected. Some damage estimates have
ranged from around $15 billion to $20 billion. Some of the costs can even go up to as high as
$30 billion if businesses disrupt, or there are extra costs from inflation. With the excessive
amount of earthquakes that New Zealand has, most of their economy is spent on repairing
damage from earthquakes. Aside from the economic aspect, New Zealands businesses have been
corrupted due to their buildings being physically damaged, and the roads and utilities damaging
the infrastructure. The population of New Zealand has decreased drastically since the 2011
earthquake along with the November quake. Along with the population, there has been a
decrease in tourism due to frequent earthquakes. After the November earthquake, a lot of tourists
immediately evacuated as soon as possible in hope to make it back to their home country safely.
The fact that the November 2016 earthquake was so detrimental, it lifted the ocean floor
between 0.5 and 2 meters in the Northeastern region from 20 km south of Kaikoura to Cape
Campbell . Marine animals and the sebreaded ocean floor was visible after the tsunami
aftershock of the earthquake. This was a major physical damage and change for New Zealand
that cannot be reverted. The earthquakes in 1855 and 1931 also experienced a change in the
ocean floor. Most of the sea creatures that were stranded after the disruption are being taken care
of or have either died from the lack of reef.
Will New Zealand have enough resources in the future to repair the damages done by
earthquakes? Unfortunately, you cant repair the ocean floor unless your life goal is to be a
marine biologist and you like Finding Nemo. I think that if New Zealand creates a plan for the
government, to decide which expenses are more important for repairing the damage of
earthquakes. Once the plan is finalized and concrete, hopefully New Zealands population can
increase, and more tourism will become higher again.

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Works Cited
Darval, Kate. New Zealands earthquake was so powerful the sea floor lifted TWO METERS
and exploded through the sand. Daily Mail Australia
16 Nov. 2016.
Gary, Willig. 2 killed in massive New Zealand earthquake. Arutz Sheva /Israel National News,
14 Nov. 2016. Global Issues In Context.
Garamone, Jim. Pacific Command Deploys USS Sampson to New Zealand to Aid in
Earthquake Recovery. DoD News, Defense Media Activity,
15 Nov. 2016. U.S. Department of Defense

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Phipps, Claire. New Zealand earthquake officially upgraded to magnitude 7.8 - as it happened.
The Guardian
16 Nov. 2016.
Roberts, Elizabeth. New Zealand earthquake so strong it lifted sea floor two meters. CNN,
18 Nov. 2016.