© APThis photograph of a giant crack in the side of a hill in New Zealand shows where the earth split in two following the recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake
Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee says a public statement about unusual seismic activity in the lower North Island is not a cause for alarm.
In a statement released this afternoon, Mr Brownlee said GNS Science had observed
"unusual activity involving patches of slow-slip activity'' between tectonic plates under the region.
"The heightened activity increases the uncertainty about the likelihood and size of future earthquakes,'' he said.
Mr Brownlee said the observations by GNS were a timely reminder for New Zealanders to be prepared for earthquakes.
Speaking to reporters at Parliament later, the minister clarified that his statement did not amount to a warning about future quakes.
"I just want to make sure that what we are doing is putting that information out there that it is advisable to be prepared.
"We're not creating alarm, we're just creating awareness.''
Since the November 14 earthquake near Kaikoura,
a series of simultaneous "slow-slip'' quakes have been observed in Gisborne, the Hawkes Bay, and Kapiti.Slow-slip quakes move just millimetres at a time and are detected by GPS because they cannot be picked up by seismographs.
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