Seismologists in New Zealand today warned of high likelihood of further powerful aftershocks following this week's 7.8 earthquake.<br/><br/>As a massive clean-up continued following the tremor that claimed two lives early Monday, scientists were coming to grips with the "astonishing" scale of the seismic seizure.<br/><br/>The official GeoNet science agency said the land moved along the many faultlines in the South Island disaster zone, permanently changing the region's geography.<br/><br/>New Zealand is on the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, which form part of the so-called "Ring of Fire", and experiences up to 15,000 tremors a year.<br/>There have been well over 2,000 aftershocks since Monday and the agency has asked residents to prepare for more major shakes in the coming weeks.