Scientists set off on voyage to unlock secrets of earthquakes

RV Tangaroa on its way to collect 27 sensors from deep underwater in the Southern Ocean

A mission is under way to collect scientific sensors from the floor of the Southern Ocean.

They have been gathering information that could explain what triggers underwater earthquakes and tsunamis.

The seabed between New Zealand and Antarctica registers some of the most violent quakes on Earth, but scientists don't know why.

"This is really an unexplored part of our planet. It gives me goosebumps just to look at the new marks that this work's produced," said Professor Hrvoje Tkalčić from the Australian National University.

The sensors were put in place in October 2020 pointing at the Earth's core and have been collecting data on extreme underwater earthquakes since then.

Scientists hope the data from the remote and deep Macquarie Ridge, which is around 5.5km underwater, will help explain why pieces of the Earth's crust - known as Tectonic plates - start to hit each other.

"We have so far mapped surfaces of some other planets but we still know very little about our own," Professor Tkalčić added.

New Zealand research vessel RV Tangaroa is being used to collect the sensors during for the 24-day Southern Ocean voyage.