Damage to one of the many churches (c) Shane Drew 2010
On september 4th 2010, New Zealand suffered a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, causing damage to thousands of homes and churches.
No deaths were reported, attributed to the early hour that the earthquake struck. Few people were on the roads, limiting the chance of being struck by falling chimneys, fences, awnings and steeples.
Some unexpected side effects of the earthquake have been discovered though.
Births on the day of the quake hit record numbers, as the adrenalin rush sent women into labour plus there was a huge increase in heart attacks. Adrenaline again being the main culprit.
Doctors however are saying that the heart attacks are not really a bad thing, because a large percentage of the ‘victims’ didn’t know they had heart disease, and the earthquake probably saved their lives. How so?
If you are in the heart attack category, it is considered better to have a mild heart attack or chest pains, and be diagnosed than have no idea and have a fatal attack later in life.
To date, Christchurch has recorded 1,153 earthquakes since September 4th.
New Zealand sits above an area of the Earth’s crust where two tectonic plates collide. The country records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, but only about 150 are powerful enough to be felt above land.
New Zealand’s last major earthquake registered 7.8 on the Richter scale and hit the South Island’s Fiordland region on July 16, 2009, moving the southern tip of the country 30cm closer to Australia.
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