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Technology used to predict earthquakes - Source: ONE News -
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Auckland scientists are currently putting technology in place to monitor the way the earth moves in a city famous for its volcanoes.
The Christchurch earthquakes are deadly reminders of the earth's raw power but a different menace lurks below New Zealand's biggest city, Auckland.
The city is dotted with volcanoes and no-one knows when a new one could blow.
"We hope that we would get some warning, but we could get a new volcano appearing anytime," volcanologist Jan Lindsay told ONE News.
One of the first signs is smaller earthquakes, which could be pushing magma up to the surface.
About 400 metres down the south stand at Eden Park is a very important borehole -it is one of five boreholes that are listening to the earth move.
"There's one of these [boreholes] at 400 metres, and one of these at 26 metres, and it just measures the movements of the earth," said Auckland University's Liam Wotherspoon.
The data is then presented and studied as an interactive 3D model, as a joint project between the Institute of Earth and Science Engineering and it company, Nextspace.
"It also helps you to map out what's unknown below the surface that might cause a problem - the Canterbury fault lines for instance, were sort of known that they existed but not exactly where they are," said project manager Gary Putt.
Scientists now plan to drill two more holes at least a kilometre deep to keep an eye underground.
"So that we can pick up more smaller earthquakes, find out where the fault structure is and potentially get an earlier warning of any volcanic activity," said Putt.
Negotiations are now underway with the Auckland Council to cover the $2 million needed.
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