Earthquake: GNS upgrades magnitude from 7.5 to 7.8IAIN MCGREGOR/FAIRFAXNZ People have been evacuated from Kaikoura by the NZ Defence Force. The major earthquake that struck on Monday has been revised up from magnitude 7.5 to 7.8. The magnitude of the earthquake on Monday has been revised from a 7.5 to 7.8 by GNS Science. READ MORE:* Earthquake: Response teams gather in Kaikoura* Earthquake: Scenes of chaos and destruction around New Zealand* Where did the quake start? Brownlee said the revised magnitude does have an effect on the probabilities of forecast aftershocks, meaning they may be larger in magnitude for a longer period of time.

Source: Stuff November 16, 2016 04:45 UTC