Reports

Ten years ago on February 22nd 2011, the deadliest and most prominent chapter of New Zealand’s latest earthquake history was written, accompanying the story of the world’s most infamous aftershock.

One large earthquake can cause other strong earthquakes. The last few days have shown several examples of earthquake triggering and sequences.

An explosion sound followed by a gentle shake: A kind of non-tectonic quake might affect places during extreme cold waves and even lead to minor damage.

Super-rare but not impossible: Strong earthquakes within stable continental areas often come as a surprise but they can happen almost everywhere.

Contrary to many other years of the 21st century, no earthquake has left a global scale footprint in 2020. But 2020 was dominated by smaller destructive earthquakes with only local impact. This leaves 2020 as one of least active years in terms of earthquake damage for years.

The SARS-COV-2 virus has affected billions of people globally either directly, through testing, quarantining, cancelled meetings and conferences, production and supply difficulties and a run on various products. The economic effects of the event will likely be above $1 trillion given the large economic implications in China, USA, and production activity globally.