Anna Roiall says her Huntly property on Riverview Road was flooded because of the local council's lack of regular maintenance. Made with funding by NZ on Air.

The East Coast Lab has been launched to research New Zealand’s least understood subduction zone, the Hikurangi Trough. Made with funding from NZ on Air

Scientists are to create an underwater "earthquake observatory" near the North Island's East Coast that will give detailed information about off-shore quakes like the 7.1 which shook the North Island last week.

They're one of the most fearsome natural phenomena known to man - and now Kiwi scientists have revealed the mechanics of volcanic pyroclastic flows.

Seismologist Dr John Ristau answers some questions about earthquakes in the region.

Grim projections show the large cost of an extreme flood event and future sea level increases on buildings and homes.

A man who lost his daughter and partner in the Christchurch earthquake has been sentenced for indecent assault and a charge under the new cyberbullying law.

For the first time scientists have observed a slow-motion earthquake unfold deep beneath the sea.

COMMENT: The Sesame Street Muppets have arrived in Fiji in hope to put a smile on the faces of children who were affected by Tropical Cyclone Winston.

The traffic signal fault in Christchurch which caused significant delays this morning in the CBD has now been fixed.

Volunteers in Fiji's Yasawa Group are appealing for Kiwi and Australian trades workers to help them rebuild.

Three weeks ago, Salesh Kumar took out a loan of $5000 to replace the roof on his Rakiraki home.

Sisters tell Anna Leask in Fiji of their terror as cyclone's winds smashed the house in which they sheltered.

The classrooms at Lovo Sangham School north of Nadi should be brimming with children taking lessons.

When they leave their home the thieves come. So they are staying put, not willing to lose their possessions when they have already lost their homes.

As cyclone Winston bore down on his hilltop home Seru Pepeli had to make the hardest decision of his life.

A survivor of Cyclone Winston talks of the horror and devastation left in the wake of the storm.

A tornado has left a trail of destruction in southern Sydney leaving several people with minor injuries and many homes and businesses without roofs.

Experience tells us that the best way to help our island neighbours is to donate to a reputable aid agency and make sure that your cash donation reaches those who need it most.

Fire crews are battling serious blazes in Dunedin and Dunback. Two homes in Saddle Hill are burning and a third is threatened. Some residents have been evacuated.

A giant sinkhole at a Queensland camping spot is now relatively stable and may have actually been a landslide, a geotechnical engineer says.

The eruption of a volcano on a small Papua New Guinean island on July 31 has again wreaked havoc on the lives of its inhabitants.

It was a heartening moment captured amid overwhelming bleakness: a 3-year-old Hurricane Katrina survivor wrapping her chubby little arms round the air force pararescue jumper who had rappelled into New Orleans to save the girl's family from floodwaters.

Typhoon Soudelor is set to shortly make landfall in Taiwan, with the storm forcing thousands to evacuate.

The head of a listed landlord with $2.2 billion of property investments has called for tax issues on seismic building strengthening to be addressed.

Mountaineer Peter Hillary, son of Everest conqueror Sir Ed, describes in vivid detail the impact of last month’s Nepal earthquake.