answersLogoWhite

0

The simple reason is: New Zealand is on a continental fault line. Earthquakes and volcanic activity are the result of movement between tectonic plates. These plates constantly move as underground stresses are released through the Earth's crust. The islands of New Zealand are situated over the boundary between the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates. The Pacific "Ring of Fire" is the area where most of the world's seismic activity takes place. It is a ring encircling the Pacific Ocean in a roughly horseshoe shape, beginning at New Zealand, continuing up through the Philippines and Indonesia, through the edge of the eastern Asian countries, then down the western coast of the USA and South America. Australia, however, does not lie directly over any such fault lines. Occasional minor quakes and tremors occur from time to time (such as that which occurred in Meckering, Western Australia, in 1963). However, even Australia's largest and most devastating earthquake (Newcastle, 1989) is believed to have been triggered by 200 years of underground coal mining, not by seismic activity.

User Avatar

Wiki User

16y ago

What else can I help you with?

Related Questions

Why is there so many volcanoes in new zealand?

Because New Zealand is sitting on two tectonic plates which cause volcanos when the move.


How many active volcanos New Zealand?

Lots depends on how you define a volcano, if you include sea mounts (Volcanoes under the ocean) as well as dormant and extinct ones then the number is quite high. If your just looking at active or at least semi active volcanoes e.g erupted last 1000 years then there are about 18(including Sea mounts). In Auckland alone there are 49 volcanoes some of these are dormant (Rangitoto) while others are extinct. All up theres about 114 volcanoes in NZ however some of these are millions of years old (some older than 16 million years old)


How many metals has New Zealand won for 2008 Olympic games?

New zealand has won 9 so far


How many legal landfills in New Zealand?

There in 90 legal landfills in New Zealand. so that means 90 landfills are allowed to be used.


How many earthquakes in new zealand per year?

About 14 000 earthquakes are recorded in New Zealand each year. Many of these are not felt, including some of the largest, which are deep ones occurring in the sparsely populated region of Fiordland.


How many plates are under new zealand?

New Zealand, like a few spots round the world, straddles two Tectonic Plates, the Pacific and the Australian. The movement between these two plates causes several things definitely New Zealand. The Volcanoes, the Alpine Fault, the Southern Alps.The Alpine Fault commences well south of NZ, continues through the country to emerge as the Hikurangi Trench, then the Tonga Trench and so on.


Why does New Zealand have so many earthquakes and Australia doesn't?

New Zealand is centred on the edge of two tectonic plates. Australia isn't anywhere near an edge, so it is safe.


How many hours is Italy behind New Zealand?

New Zealand's standard time is GMT+12. Italy's is GMT+1. So, disregarding Daylight Savings Time, Italy is eleven hours behind New Zealand.


Why are some countries like New Zealand so popular for extreme sports?

This could be because places like New Zealand do not have as many health and Safety measures.


Why does NZ have so many earthquakes?

Because New Zealand is on the edge of the plate tectonics.


How do you say I am from New Zealand in New Zealand?

New Zealand is an English-speaking nation, so you would say "I'm home now."


What is the biggest recorded volcanic eruption in new zealand?

The biggest recorded volcanic eruption in New Zealand was the eruption of Taupo volcanic center about 26,500 years ago. This eruption was categorized as a VEI-8, which is the highest on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. It deposited a significant amount of volcanic material across the central North Island of New Zealand.