Tsunami in the Antipodes

An earthquake of 7.4 magnitude has just struck New Zealand, 90 km away from Christchurch, causing a tsunami. For the moment, no victims have been found. The tremor occurred on Sunday evening at 23 hours, three and a half hours ago.

New Zealand is located near the edge of the tectonic plates of Australia and the Pacific, at a place known as the Ring of Fire, where 15,000 earthquakes are recorded every year.

Click images to enlarge slightly

#NouvelleZélande #NewZealand #earthquake

Buying a beach in New Zealand

This splendid beach named Awaroa is located in the Abel Tasman national park at the upper tip of the south island of New Zealand. This remote paradise of 7 hectares, 10 km from the closest village and only accessible by boat or helicopter, was up for sale for a few million dollars.

Last Xmas day, a New Zealand pastor named Duane Major decided to tackle the challenge by a crowd-sourcing approach. He rapidly received 40,000 pledges, amounting to 2.3 million dollars. Even the New Zealand government participated in the project, with a gift of 350,000 dollars. The pledges were even accompanied by poems from children, praising the beauty of the site.

That's the same nation whose citizens were most upset when France was testing nuclear weapons in that part of the world... before blowing up a Green Peace vessel in Auckland. Retrospectively, I have the impression that French authorities didn't really understand the kind of citizens with whom they were dealing.