M2.1earthquake in the central Hauraki Gulf just before a whale stranding

An interesting magnitude 2.1 shallow earthquake under the Hauraki Gulf this afternoon. It occurred on the extension of the Hauraki fault around 15km north of the Auckland Volcanic Field, 25km east of Kawau Island, 18 km South West of Great Barrier Island and was not reported as felt.

In a coincidence or maybe not, a mass stranding of pilot whales occurred shortly afterwards. Earthquakes produce significant underwater acoustic disturbances, so seismic waves can potentially disorient whales.

The last seismicity in this location was on 3rd Jan 2023 when 3 small shallow quakes occurred.

Google earth using Geonet source data with geology features included.