The popular belief of the island volcano having burst up out of the sea between 600 and 800 years ago has been exploded with revelations that old 'toto has been doing this for a while (at least a couple of thousand years. Whether this is because it rises and sinks like a (imagine for yourself a disgusting simile - I'm too sensitive to mention one), or has just been there refreshing itself with new layerings of volcanic ash and burnt material.
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| Rangitoto - one of the world's most picturesque volcanoes generally seen as an island not a time bomb |
There has been a lot of discussion on what it would be like living by an active volcano. We aren't short of actual evidence of this and only have to visit Hawaii, Iceland, Italy and Chile to see this. The slopes of Mount Vesuvius are heavily populated and recently a hospital was built there (admittedly it was a Mafia-driven rort) and Vesuvius is rumbling and blew up as recently as 1944.
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| Mount Vesuvius - one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes |
Rangitoto has been sitting out in the Whatsthematter Harbour longer than Auckland has been invented.
It's an interesting oddity and well worth a visit and a climb (you can kayak out to it from Auckland city). Apart from the Auckland museum exhibition featuring a virtual experience of a volcanic eruption destroying Auckland and a poorly made TV film of the same theme that was screened a couple of years ago there hasn't been a lot of media interest in 'toto. Until now.
Over the last couple of weeks Bill English has been ranting on about property price increases (that have been undermining his grand plan for New Zealand's economic future) and has been particularly focusing on Auckland. This isn't surprising as the greatest real estate capital is held there and, with the pressure on housing driven by increased population in Auckland it is inevitable that property prices will increase.. His doom and gloom forecasting tends to fall on deaf ears for people who own property and want to realise it later for their retirement, property speculators, and, bizarrely, even those who want to enter the property market but can't afford to - but no-one wants to buy something that isn't going to appreciate in value.
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| No, not Rangitoto. This is Bill English but they both look a bit craggy. |
Poor old Bill hasn't been making headway. What does he do? Suck it up and see what market forces will eventually happen? Or, as he and this government have got used to doing, sign off on some underhanded trickery (laws, bills, authorisations) - like he did with the GCSB investigations.
Maybe. Just maybe, old Bill with or without his old adversary and now boss Shonkey (who is conveniently out of the country) gave the nod and a wink to some friendly (and desperate for funding) scientists and said "hey fellas, find a way to put the wind up property investors in Auckland can you?"
4 comments:
I think NZ has been so preoccupied with Wellington that they have and will be caught napping seismically speaking. Aucklanders, like Cantabrians before them, are far too complacent. I have always maintained, and still do, that Auckland will have a volcanic crisis before the capital has a major earthquake. We got ours out of the way in the 1800s. We're not due for hundreds of years. Meantime, real estate here in uplifted Petone is doing just fine!
Sorry to tell you this Tracey but from what I remember from my Vic University environmental geology studies the main interface between the Australian and the Pacific tectonic plates is below Wellington.
While the last real biggie in Wellington was in 1855 this was the Wairarapa fault that caused this. It usually moves like that every 1200 to 1500 years so yes, theoretically not due for a spell.
The Wellington fault on the other hand last had a biggie 500 years ago and guess what? It has a history of doing this every 500 years or more.
I live in Northland, the most geologically secure place in New Zealand.
Is Nuova Lazio safe?
Nuova Lazio will be destroyed by social upheaval, not earthquake.
Expect 'Rivers of Fire' a la North Korea promises.
Watch out for young men filling bottles with petrol at the service stations.
Apparently the ones that go to the wall first are teachers.
Just a thought.
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