The energy released from thousands of aftershocks will not prevent another big quake, Victoria University professor Martha Savage says.
It was a myth that small aftershocks were preventing bigger earthquakes by relieving stress on faultlines, Prof Savage said last week.
"It's not correct. That's what the people of L'Aquila [Italy] thought and they stayed in their homes. I don't want to scare people but small aftershocks do increase the risk of bigger quakes by a small amount. All aftershocks can increase stress."
Her statements come at the same time a new study conducted by Italian seismologists has suggested that last September's 7.1 quake in Darfield had a role in causing the deadly February quake.
The Italians analysed ground data from a Japanese satellite and found the Darfield quake may have "loaded stress" on to the Port Hills fault, contributing to its rupture in February.
Although the study, published in the nature journal Scientific Reports, could not determine whether or not the February earthquake was likely to occur without the September quake, it did conclude that the first quake brought the Port Hills fault closer to failure.
- The Star (Christchurch)
