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Magnitude 6.1 earthquake strikes New Zealand: EMSC

The country lies on the seismically active "Ring of Fire", a 40,000-km arc of volcanoes and ocean trenches girdling much of the Pacific Ocean

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A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck New Zealand near Wellington on Wednesday at a depth of 48 km (30 miles), government seismic monitor Geonet said, at 7.38pm local time.

The earthquake's epicentre was 50 km from the town of Paraparaumu, according to Geonet.

A Reuters witness felt a strong shaking that lasted several seconds in the capital of Wellington.

New Zealand lies on the seismically active "Ring of Fire", a 40,000-km arc of volcanoes and ocean trenches girdling much of the Pacific Ocean.

This comes after Cyclone Gabrielle caused significant damage across the North Island this week leaving 4 people dead, more than 10,000 people displaced, and widespread damage.

It also comes just over a week after a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake, and a series of debilitating aftershocks, shook the south of Turkey and northern Syria, killing over 35,000 people and impacting about 20 million, the country's President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said. The damage extended to a 500-km-wide region in 10 provinces inhabited by 13.5 million people, he noted in a pre-recorded video message to World Government Summit 2023 attendees in Dubai.

"According to scientists, the energy released by these earthquakes is as powerful as 500 atomic bombs,” said Erdoğan.

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