What fault line runs through NZ?

What fault line runs through NZ?

Alpine Fault
The 850km Alpine Fault runs along the mountainous spine of the South Island, marking the boundary where the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates meet and grind against each other, forcing up the Southern Alps. Over the past 4,000 years, it has ruptured more than 20 times, on average around every 250 years.

What are the main fault lines?

The North Island Fault System consists of eight main fault strands and many smaller related faults.

• Mohaka Fault.
• Ruahine Fault.
• Waimana Fault.
• Waiohau Fault.
• Wairarapa Fault.
• Wellington Fault.
• Whakatane Fault.

What is the Alpine Fault New Zealand?

The Alpine Fault is the dominant structure defining the Australian-Pacific plate boundary in the South Island of New Zealand. It runs as a single structure for over 500 km between the Puysegur Trench in the south and the Marlborough Fault System in the northeast.

What kind of fault is the Wellington Fault?

strike-slip fault
The Wellington Fault is an active seismic fault in the southern part of the North Island of New Zealand. It is a dextral (right-lateral) strike-slip fault with variable amounts of vertical movement causing uplift to the northwest, as expressed by a series of ranges.

Why does NZ have so many fault lines?

The North Island Fault System is a major plate boundary feature in the North Island, under constant stress from movement between the Pacific and Australian plates. The Taupo Volcanic Zone also has many active faults associated with rifting and extension of the crust in the area.

Where is the biggest fault line?

The New Madrid Seismic Zone (/ˈmædrɪd/), sometimes called the New Madrid Fault Line, is a major seismic zone and a prolific source of intraplate earthquakes (earthquakes within a tectonic plate) in the Southern and Midwestern United States, stretching to the southwest from New Madrid, Missouri.

How old is Alpine Fault?

The last major earthquake on the Alpine Fault was in c. 1717 AD, the probability of another one occurring within the next 50 years is estimated at about 75 percent….

Alpine Fault
Length	480 km (300 mi)
Strike	NE-SW
Displacement	30 mm (1.2 in)/yr
Tectonics

What will happen when the Alpine Fault goes?

The rupture will produce one of the biggest earthquakes since European settlement of New Zealand, and it will have a major impact on the lives of many people. In between earthquakes, the Alpine Fault is locked. When the Alpine Fault next ruptures it is likely to produce an earthquake with a magnitude of around 8.

Is Wellington safe from earthquakes?

The Wellington region is regularly shaken by small and medium-sized earthquakes. A large or very large earthquake on a fault in the region would result in deaths, injuries and considerable disruption to lifelines and infrastructure.

Is NZ on a fault line?

There are major fault lines running the length of New Zealand. In the South Island, the Marlborough Fault System is another series of major parallel faults. These join together further south to form the Alpine Fault which carries most of the total plate boundary strain.

What are the major fault lines in New Zealand?

Topography of New Zealand. The Alpine fault is the major strand of this fault system along most of the length of the island, near and generally paralleling the west coast. Its impact upon the topography is unmistakable, forming an extremely sharp and straight northwest boundary to New Zealand’s tallest mountains, the Southern Alps.

How many times has the Alpine Fault ruptured?

The Alpine Fault, which runs for about 600km up the spine of the South Island, is one of the world’s major geological features. It’s the “on-land” boundary of the Pacific and Australian Plates. This fault has ruptured four times in the past 900 years, each time producing an earthquake of about magnitude 8.

Why are there no earthquakes in New Zealand?

The increasing depth going from east to west across the North Island gives a strong indication of the slope at which the Pacific Plate is descending. The second point is how there have been no earthquakes at depth along the Alpine Fault. Once again, this is indicative of pressure building up.

Where does the Pacific and Australian plates meet in New Zealand?

At this point the surfaces of the two plates making up the South Islands alpine fault meet. The Pacific Plate on the easterly area of New Zealand is moving westwards and the Australian Plate, on the western side of New Zealand moves eastwards. They move at a relative rate of about 45mm per year.