On November 14, two minutes after midnight, Scott Waterford had just gone to bed when the earthquake shook him out of it. Still in his undies, Waterford took shelter in a doorway. Then, as the shuddering intensified, he jumped off the veranda and ran into the paddock. A minute or so after the shaking started, the ground split open. Few have ever witnessed this "lightning and thunder" effect: first the shaking, then the breaking. Waterford is one of only a handful around the world. Last year’s Kaikōura earthquake is now believed to be one of the most complex ever recorded.

55660EZ00-Major landslide and slumping on Waipapa Station where the Papatea Fault rupture has lifted land over 4 metres. Kaikoura M7.8 earthquake. Clarence, Kaikoura District, South Island, NZ


	What Kaikōura taught us On November 14, two minutes after midnight, Scott Waterford had just gone to bed when the earthquake shook him out of it. Still in his undies, Waterford took shelter in a doorway. Then, as the shuddering intensified, he jumped off the veranda and ran into the paddock. A minute or so after the shaking started, the ground split open. Few have witnessed this "lightning and thunder" effect: first the shaking, then the breaking. Waterford is one of only a handful of people in the world to have experienced it. Last year’s Kaikōura earthquake is now believed to be one of the most complex ever recorded. This is why.

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On Friday, September 11, 1914, a “terrific volcanic outburst” proved fatal for workers of the White Island Sulphur Company. This is what happened.


	In the wake of the quake The Kaikōura Earthquake was better documented and measured than any natural event in our history. As the data streams in, scientists are scrambling to decode its hidden meanings and answer some burning questions of Antipodean geology.