Highest point Peak Aoraki / Mount Cook Elevation 3,724 m (12,218 ft) Coordinates Dimensions Length 500 km (310 mi) Geography Location South Island, New Zealand The Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. "Bends like that usually stop earthquakes.". Despite its obvious tectonic significance, the Alpine fault has not ruptured since European settlement in the 1840s. The bend – where the fault turns from its northeast-southwest orientation to run in a more north-south direction – was a "big unknown" in terms of how it interfered with ruptures. READ MORE:  * Magnitude-8.2: The disaster scenario on New Zealand's most dangerous fault * Preparing for the big one on the Alpine Fault * Alpine Fault moves more than any other known land fault * Team granted funding to plan response for megaquake. The two quakes they had found evidence for were the big quake in 1717 and the more recent quake, sometime between 1740 and 1840, he said. The 2016 Kaikoura earthquake was a magnitude 7.8 (Mw) earthquake in the South Island of New Zealand that occurred two minutes after midnight on 14 November 2016 NZDT (11:02 on 13 November UTC). There was evidence of 27 ruptures in the southern section, with a 291-year recurrence interval and an average slip of about 29mm a year. Scientists question whether a 5.5 quake did indeed strike on the big-risk Alpine Fault. The Alpine Fault is the boundary between the Pacific crustal plate and the Australian plate. Project AF8 Steering Group chairman Angus McKay, from Emergency Management Southland, said some of New Zealand's best scientific minds had worked together to produce a credible scenario for what would happen with the next major earthquake on fault line. More work was being done to refine the date of that last quake. To the West of the fault Paleozoic basement rocks are interluded by plutones and both are unconformably covered in a sedimentary sequence. GNS details on the Alpine Fault 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 about whether that provides some protection for those population centres in Marlborough and Wellington further down the fault. "This fault system has the potential for larger events," Geonet tweeted. The catastrophic threat the South Island's Alpine Fault poses to New Zealand has been front and centre of a Civil Defence conference in Queenstown today. The central section had evidence of eight events with a return period of 263 years plus or minus 68 years and slip of 28mm a year. Geologists and authorities are racing to quantify what might happen, and how they might respond in the event of the next one, likely to occur some time in the next 50 years. In Christchurch, the shaking from an Alpine Fault rupture might not feel as sharp as the February 2011 earthquake, Bradley said, but it would last a lot longer – about two or three minutes. The Alpine Fault is a geological fault that runs almost the entire length of New Zealand's South Island (c. 480 km) and forms the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate. "But we don't really know any more than that. The slip rate here was much lower, only about 14mm a year, probably because movement was transferred in the northern section on to the Hope, Awatere and Wairau faults. In this recording, Alpine fault drilling, part of Te Papa’s Science Express programme, hear about the deepest fault drilling ever done in New Zealand. This news article from Stuff covers some research on the frequency of past earthquakes along the Alpine fault. "We have used that scenario to work with our partners to identify the foreseeable impacts on communities and critical infrastructure across the South Island," he said. The four videos … Just-released videos have shown what would happen in the event of a major quake along the South Island's big-risk Alpine Fault. Howarth said they were intrigued about the "big bend" in the Alpine Fault between about Springs Junction and Lake Rotoroa, near St Arnaud, which might help stop a rupture and protect people in Wellington and parts of Marlborough from severe shaking. Instead, they have evidence from the back country behind Hokitika that the northern part of the fault ruptured more recently, sometime between 1740 and 1840, possibly generating a quake with a magnitude of 7.0 to 7.5. The fault crosses Lake Rotoiti and the Brunner Peninsula before striking northeast up the Wairau River Valley as the Wairau Fault. It could be a lower-magnitude local rupture in the [magnitude] 6s, or it could have ruptured a larger part of the North Westland section and be in the low [magnitude] 7s.". "The next step is to plan in more detail for a coordinated response to those impacts and the extensive disruption they will cause. From the LEARNZ Alpine Fault online field trip… The Alpine Fault, which runs up the spine of the South Island, has ruptured five times in the past 1100 years - producing an earthquake of between magnitude 7 … [1] The Southern Alps have been uplifted on the fault over … [2] Ruptures occurred on multiple faults and the earthquake has been described as the "most complex earthquake ever studied". “I still think the major worry in Otago and Southland is the Alpine Fault itself, and also from the sorts of smaller faults through the South Island.” – Stuff Six quakes rattle NZ: A flurry of six earthquakes have struck the country overnight, with the strongest, a magnitude 4.9 , hitting off Seddon. The Alpine Fault ruptures—on average—every 330 years with a magnitude 8 earthquake. But there was only evidence of two ruptures in the "under-studied" northern section, which meant a robust recurrence internal could not be calculated. The Alpine Fault runs almost the entire length of the South Island, and an earthquake there will be felt by much of the country. GNS Science earthquake geologist Robert Langridge has been studying why the Alpine Fault is so susceptible to earthquakes - it's since been discovered that it may be the world's fastest-moving known fault line. It’s the “on-land” boundary of the Pacific and Australian Plates. It's a puzzle. Explanation of how Civil Defence will respond to a significant emergency and how to stay prepared. It runs northeast from the northern side of the entrance to Milford Sound, along the western side of the Southern Alps for about 800 kilometres before morphing into the Marlborough fault system beyond St Arnaud. Researchers have divided the fault into three segments – the South Westland section, from Milford Sound to Jackson Bay; the central section, from there to near Hokitika; and the North Westland section, from Hokitika to Tophouse Flats just past Lake Rotoiti. Howarth said 1740 was the earliest likely year for the recently discovered quake and it was unlikely to be much later than 1840, otherwise it would have been felt by South Islanders and talked about. Kiwi scientists have made history by discovering a new Alpine Fault earthquake and are now investigating whether a "bend" might protect Wellington and Marlborough in the next big shake. MICHAEL MANGA Neat stuff in the Field Alpine Fault, New Zealand, 2009 The Alpine Fault is a strike-slip fault that runs nearly the entire length of New Zealand's south island. GNS senior earthquake scientist Dr Rob Langridge inspects the fault zone in the Inchbonnie trench across the Alpine Fault. Project Alpine Fault Magnitude 8 (AF8) released a series of videos on Wednesday, warning there's compelling geological evidence to show it produces a significant earthquake of magnitude eight or greater every 300 years on average. We don't have enough data to say. What to expect when the Alpine Fault ruptures” Stuff. (File photo), Investigations of the Alpine Fault at Inchbonnie near the Taramakau River have been carried out by studying trenches dug across the fault and by using ground-penetrating radar. The Alpine Fault is a geological fault that runs almost the entire length of New Zealand's South Island (c. 480 km) and forms the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate. Conference delegates were updated on … The Alpine Fault. EPL Ltd owner Tom Thomson talks about the challenges he faced after the February 2011 earthquakes in Christchurch. Cows in front of the Alpine Fault scarp at Inchbonnie (file photo). The last rupture was believed to have happened in 1717. Magnitude-8.2: The disaster scenario on New Zealand's most dangerous fault, Preparing for the big one on the Alpine Fault, Alpine Fault moves more than any other known land fault, Team granted funding to plan response for megaquake, unlike any felt in modern New Zealand history, Lunchtime sightseeing trip in new helicopter ends with fatal crash, Transport Agency employee breaching learner licence kills motorcyclist, This could be the worst Parliament since MMP unless urgent changes are made, Pilot injured after helicopter crash in Hawke's Bay, Auckland mum appalled after school staff member put tape on her son's mouth, Quiz: Morning trivia challenge: December 16, 2020, Coastal residents’ fight for their homes comes to an end, Covid-19: Rest home volunteer dressed as Santa infects 75 residents in super-spreader event, In a first, leading Republicans call Joe Biden US president-elect, Distressed investors handed over more than $13m to missing Australian woman Melissa Caddick. In the past 8000 years it had ruptured 24 times and caused magnitude-8 quakes, including four in … Project Alpine Fault Magnitude 8 (AF8) released a series of videos on Wednesday, warning there's compelling geological evidence to show it produces a significant earthquake of … The massive Alpine Fault is due for another big earthquake and scientists have been drawing up a scenario of what the devastation would look like. Dr Caroline Orchiston explains the Alpine Fault and the damage the earthquake will have. Drive out to Ōkārito to look at how people and the environment will be affected by an Alpine Fault Earthquake. (File photo), Alpine Fault is better understood – but that won't stop the Big One, Big Bay quake on Sunday largest along Alpine Fault since 2001, New study says Alpine Fault quake interval shorter than thought: GNS Science, Big Alpine Fault quake may be 'in near future', Lunchtime sightseeing trip in new helicopter ends with fatal crash, Transport Agency employee breaching learner licence kills motorcyclist, This could be the worst Parliament since MMP unless urgent changes are made, Pilot injured after helicopter crash in Hawke's Bay, Auckland mum appalled after school staff member put tape on her son's mouth, Quiz: Morning trivia challenge: December 16, 2020, Coastal residents’ fight for their homes comes to an end, Covid-19: Rest home volunteer dressed as Santa infects 75 residents in super-spreader event, In a first, leading Republicans call Joe Biden US president-elect, Distressed investors handed over more than $13m to missing Australian woman Melissa Caddick. October 14 2016 “When, not if: Alpine fault could cause 8 metres of movement” The southern part of the fault has been found to rupture on average every 291 years, plus or minus 23 years, and there is a 27 per cent chance of that happening again in the next 50 years. The Alpine Fault quickly became accepted as a notable feature of the geology of New Zealand, and by 1948 was included on standard geological maps. From the LEARNZ Alpine Fault online field trip at… A companion set of longer videos provide more in-depth detail of the science underpinning ProjectAF8, which is funded by the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management and through the Resilience to Nature's Challenges Fund. Helping people to understand what an Alpine Fault earthquake will mean for them, their families and communities will be a central part of our next year's work.". Shaking near the epicentre, not far from Haast, would be unlike any felt in modern New Zealand history. The Marlborough Fault System is a set of four large dextral strike-slip faults and other related structures in the northern part of South Island, New Zealand, which transfer displacement between the mainly transform plate boundary of the Alpine fault and the mainly destructive boundary of the Kermadec Trench, and together form the boundary between the Australian and Pacific Plates. Painstaking work by Victoria University of Wellington palaeoseismologist Dr Jamie Howarth and GNS Science senior earthquake scientist Dr Rob Langridge casts doubt on 1717 as the last time the fault caused a major earthquake. For their date discovery, Howarth and Langridge used new techniques of radiocarbon-dating to reanalyse organic material found in trenches on the section of the fault between the Toaroha River, about 20km southeast of Hokitika, and Springs Junction. May 21 2016 “Queenstown conference told of potential impact of alpine fault rupture” Stuff. The Southern Alps have been uplifted on the fault over the last 12 million years in a series of earthquakes. The Alpine Fault is the boundary between the Pacific crustal plate and the Australian plate. GNS Science earthquake geologists studying layers in the trench across the Alpine Fault at Calf Paddock near Springs Junction. The average interval between large quakes on the fault was 330 years. The southern part of the fault has been found to rupture on average every 291 years, plus or minus 23 years, and there is a 27 per cent chance of that happening again in the next 50 years. They say it is too early to tell how their discovery may change the probabilities of when the next big, possibly magnitude 8-plus, Alpine Fault quake is due. [Chapter Break] After their ground breaking paper on the Alpine Fault, Willett AF8 [Alpine Fault Magnitude 8] is an award-winning programme of scientific modelling, response planning and community engagement designed to build a collective resilience and preparedness to the next Alpine Fault ProjectAF8 is a South Island-wide effort to co-ordinate planning and preparation for a severe earthquake on the fault. Scientists have established that the fault … The Alpine Fault runs northeast from the northern side of the entrance to Milford Sound, along the western side of the Southern Alps for about 800 kilometres before morphing into the Marlborough fault system beyond St Arnaud. Stuff has the latest information on this: Videos show devastating impact across South Island if Alpine Fault ruptures Video simulations demonstrate widespread destruction across the South Island if New Zealand’s most dangerous fault line ruptures, and there’s evidence the country is due for another big one. Project AF8 have been preparing for a severe earthquake on the Alpine Fault for two years. Mapping has shown the Alpine Fault runs directly under some Franz Josef businesses, including the petrol station, the Helicopter Line offices and part of … "We would like to make sure that you are prepared for a large earthquake at all times." The Alpine Fault from Mount Robert above St Arnaud. "It might be that it acts as a barrier. Studies at Alpine Fault excavation sites showed a large earthquake occurred on the fault every 300 years or so, with the last one occurring in 1717. (File photo). The Alpine Fault runs hundreds of kilometres along the western Alps from Marlborough to Milford Sound, where it heads offshore, and marks the Pacific and … The geology of the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island is divided in two by the Alpine Fault, which runs through the Region in a North-East direction. The Alpine Fault crosses many West Coast townships, tourist areas, and key infrastructure so there is fear attached to the impact of a fault rupture in these areas." Take a look at the site where scientists have drilled into the Alpine Fault and find out what they hope to discover. Photogrammetric reconstruction of the Alpine Fault outcrop at Gaunt Creek near Whataroa, New Zealand. Video simulations demonstrate widespread destruction across the South Island if New Zealand's most dangerous fault line ruptures, and there's evidence the country is due for another big one. Ms Cooper lives near the Alpine Fault, which is likely to rupture within the lifetime of many New Zealanders. It released the four two-minute videos to mark two years of work. READ MORE: * Alpine Fault is better understood – but that won't stop the Big One * Big Bay quake on Sunday largest along Alpine Fault since 2001 * New study says Alpine Fault quake interval shorter than thought: GNS Science * Big Alpine Fault quake may be 'in near future'. It would be more of a rolling motion for people in Christchurch, because of their distance away from the fault… Howarth said each section had its own characteristics. Stuff.co.nz: Scientists mark 300 years since last great Alpine Fault quake – preparing for the ‘inevitable’ Otago Daily Times: Alpine shake would hit tourism Newshub: Alpine Fault overdue for magnitude 8+ quake – scientists The Alpine Fault runs hundreds of kilometres up the spine of the South Island, from Fiordland along the western edge of the Southern Alps. The "big bend" in the Alpine Fault between about Springs Junction and Lake Rotoroa, near St Arnaud. Earthquake at all times. earthquake ever studied '' be that it acts as barrier! 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