24/7 Geohazards Monitoring Centre Debuts in NZ

A new centre providing enhanced monitoring of natural geological hazards manned 24 hours a day in New Zealand has officially opened in Lower Hutt.

The National Geohazards Monitoring Centre is a purpose-built facility located on the GNS Science campus, and is manned by a team of geohazard analysts.

The centre’s staff will provide monitoring and advisory services for tsunami, earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods said, adding no other centre in the world monitors all of these geological hazards in one service.

“New Zealanders are aware of the life-threatening geological risks that our country faces and this centre will improve the early warning systems for those events,” Woods said.

“The centre will allow ‘24/7 awake’ as opposed to the current on-call basis, reducing response time and improving the flow in important information,” the minister added.

Civil Defence Minister Kris Faafoi said that providing speedy and reliable information is critical to keeping New Zealanders safe during events.

“We can’t control the forces of nature, but we can control how effectively we keep the public informed so they can stay safe,” Faafoi said.

Original article by Xinhua, December 12, 2018.