gov.noaa.ngdc.mgg.photos:259The South Island, New Zealand earthquake occurred as part of the aftershock sequence of the M 7.0 September 3, 2010 Darfield, NZ earthquake. It involved oblique-thrust faulting at the easternmost limit of previous aftershocks, and like the mainshock itself is broadly associated with regional plate boundary deformation as the Pacific and Australia plates interact in the central South Island, New Zealand. This latest shock is significantly closer to the main population center of Christchurch, NZ, than is the September 2010 mainshock, in the vicinity of several other moderate (M 4 to 5) sized aftershocks located east of the main rupture zone of the 2010 event. There have been approximately 6 M>=5.0 aftershocks in the Christchurch region. The February 21st earthquake represents the largest aftershock to date, more that half a magnitude unit larger than the previous largest aftershock.To provide long-term scientific data stewardship for the Nation's geophysical data, ensuring quality, integrity, and accessibilityIn workasNeeded172.71172.71-43.6-43.6NASA/GCMD Earth Science KeywordsEARTH SCIENCE > HUMAN DIMENSIONS > Natural Hazards > Geological HazardsRestriction Code: otherRestrictions; DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC > National Geophysical Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of CommerceHazards Dataphysical and mailing NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC E/GC 325 Broadway BoulderCO80305-3328(303) 497-3707haz.info@noaa.govUnknown 20120222Heather McCulloughDOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC > National Geophysical Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commercemailing and physical NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC/MGG 325 Broadway E/GC3 BoulderCO80305-3328(303) 497-3707haz.info@noaa.govHeather.McCullough@noaa.govContent Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata: Extensions for Remote Sensing MetadataFGDC-STD-012-2002