The Kaikoura earthquake in November 2016 highlighted the vulnerability of New Zealand’s rural communities to locally-specific hazard events, which generate regional and national scale impacts. Kaikoura was isolated with significant damage to both the east coast road (SH1) and rail corridor, and the Inland Road (Route 70). Sea bed uplift along the coast was significant – affecting marine resources and ocean access for marine operators engaged in tourism and harvesting, and recreational users. While communities closest to the earthquake epicentre (e.g., Kaikoura, Waiau, Rotherham and Cheviot) suffered the most immediate earthquake damage, the damage to the transport network, and the establishment of an alternative transport route between Christchurch and Picton, has significantly impacted on more distant communities (e.g., Murchison, St Arnaud and Blenheim). There was also considerable damage to vineyard infrastructure across the Marlborough region and damage to buildings and infrastructure in rural settlements in Southern Marlborough (e.g., Ward and Seddon).
The Mw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake ruptured ~200 km at the ground surface across the New Zealand plate boundary zone in the northern South Island. This study was conducted in an area of ~600 km2 in the epicentral region where the faults comprise two main non-coplanar sets that strike E-NE and NNE-NW with mainly steep dips (60о-80°). Analysis of the surface rupture using field and LiDAR data provides new information on the dimensions, geometries and kinematics of these faults which was not previously available from pre-earthquake active faults or bedrock structure. The more northerly striking fault set are sub-parallel to basement bedding and accommodated predominantly left-lateral reverse slip with net slips of ~1 and ~5 m for the Stone Jug and Leader faults, respectively. The E-NE striking Conway-Charwell and The Humps faults accrued right-lateral to oblique reverse with net slips of ~2 and ~3 m, respectively. The faults form a hard-linked system dominated by kinematics consistent with the ~260° trend of the relative plate motion vector and the transpressional structures recorded across the plate boundary in the NE South Island. Interaction and intersection of the main fault sets facilitated propagation of the earthquake and transfer of slip northwards across the plate boundary zone.
The M7.8 Kaikoura Earthquake in 2016 presented a number of challenges to science agencies and institutions throughout New Zealand. The earthquake was complex, with 21 faults rupturing throughout the North Canterbury and Marlborough landscape, generating a localised seven metre tsunami and triggering thousands of landslides. With many areas isolated as a result, it presented science teams with logistical challenges as well as the need to coordinate efforts across institutional and disciplinary boundaries. Many research disciplines, from engineering and geophysics to social science, were heavily involved in the response. Coordinating these disciplines and institutions required significant effort to assist New Zealand during its most complex earthquake yet recorded. This paper explores that effort and acknowledges the successes and lessons learned by the teams involved.
Christchurch woman Pam Sharpe has endured earthquakes, fires and dealing with insurance companies, but then she received a parking ticket. She tells Checkpoint what happened next.
Rachel Conley's family has flown to Christchurch for the first time for the unveiling of the memorial wall. They are staying with a NZ family, whose son died along with Rachel in the earthquake.
The Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial was unveiled to the public at a memorial attended by more than 3000 people.
People have been queuing for days for the Bruce Springsteen concert in Christchurch tonight, ahead of the sixth anniversary of the 2011 earthquake. Glenn McCartney is at the front of the queue.
A memorial for the 185 people who died in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake will be blessed tonight, ahead of the unveiling tomorrow, on the sixth anniversary.
A woman crushed to within milimetres of her life in the Christchurch earthquake says it is murderously cavalier for Wellington's council not to cordon off weak or prone buildings.
Some Bruce Springsteen fans have queued for days ahead of the Boss' show in Christchurch tomorrow night - on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the 2011 earthquake.
Two former Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority officials attempted to use their positions for their own financial gain and their actions will now be referred to the Serious Fraud Office.
A Christchurch family have found themselves stuck with a house that is too unsafe to live in after a fire revealed earthquake damage, which EQC admits it failed to identify.
Christchurch councillor Raf Manji announces plans to stand against Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee in Ilam at the general election. He tells John Campbell why he is standing as an independent.
Dr Sue Bagshaw, the head of a youth health clinic Christchurch, fears the high rates of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among children will skyrocket due to the earthquake.
The first freight train since the devastating Kaikoura earthquake has chugged into Christchurch, after an historic 348 kilometre journey from Picton.
Canterbury Museum is inviting visitors to view Quake City for free during the special exhibition's reopening this weekend, 16 & 17 September. The newly-relocated exhibition that tells stories from the Canterbury earthquakes, reopened on 14 September.
The track will open this week after being closed for nearly a year after the line suffered extensive damage in last November's earthquake.
Tourism, native planting, and bee keeping are all possibilities a community lead working group is waiting on government funding to explore.
The quake outcasts, who were uninsured at the time, will receive 80 percent of the pre-earthquake value of their homes. Three of them tell John Campbell how they've been living in limbo.
A temporary village has opened in the small Canterbury town of Waiau to help residents who lost their homes in the Kaikoura earthquake.
The Ministry of Education has been forced to apologise for its flawed handling of school closures and mergers after the 2011 Canterbury earthquake.
For the first time in six years, music has filled Christchurch's Town Hall, which suffered significant damage in the February 2011 earthquake.
Medium-density fibreboard has been sitting at an old rubbish put in Wigram since the earthquakes and residents are worried it's harming their health.
The former Earthquake Recovery Minister's decision to exclude uninsured Canterbury landowners under the Recovery Plan was unlawful, the Court of Appeal has ruled in an interim judgement.
The Christchurch earthquakes caused devastating damage to many of the city’s creative spaces. But rising from the rubble has been the Isaac Theatre Royal under the watchful eye of Neil Cox. He’s directed the resurrection of one of the premiere performance spaces in the country.
Built in June 1917, the popular 'Sign of the Kiwi' heritage building in Christchurch's Port Hills has re-opened today after being closed for six years due to earthquake damage.
Many farmers' homes have been red-stickered after the Kaikoura earthquake, but they say they can't leave because their farms aren't just their homes, they're their livelihoods
Thirty properties are unlivable while another 170 have restricted access following the Kaikoura earthquake last year. RNZ reporter Conan Young reports from a town meeting.
More than five people have died on crashes on SH1 between Picton and Christchurch since it became a main arterial route following the Kaikoura earthquake.
We present preliminary observations on three waters impacts from the Mw7.8 14th November 2016 Kaikōura Earthquake on wider metropolitan Wellington, urban and rural Marlborough, and in Kaikōura township. Three waters systems in these areas experienced widespread and significant transient ground deformation in response to seismic shaking, with localised permanent ground deformation via liquefaction and lateral spreading. In Wellington, potable water quality was impacted temporarily by increased turbidity, and significant water losses occurred due to damaged pipes at the port. The Seaview and Porirua wastewater treatment plants sustained damage to clarifier tanks from water seiching, and increased water infiltration to the wastewater system occurred. Most failure modes in urban Marlborough were similar to the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence; however some rural water tanks experienced rotational and translational movements, highlighting importance of flexible pipe connections. In Kaikōura, damage to reservoirs and pipes led to loss of water supply and compromised firefighting capability. Wastewater damage led to environmental contamination, and necessitated restrictions on greywater entry into the system to minimise flows. Damage to these systems necessitated the importation of tankered and bottled water, boil water notices and chlorination of the system, and importation of portaloos and chemical toilets. Stormwater infrastructure such as road drainage channels was also damaged, which could compromise condition of underlying road materials. Good operational asset management practices (current and accurate information, renewals, appreciation of criticality, good system knowledge and practical contingency plans) helped improve system resilience, and having robust emergency management centres and accurate Geographic Information System data allowed effective response coordination. Minimal damage to the wider built environment facilitated system inspections. Note Future research will include detailed geospatial assessments of seismic demand on these systems and attendant modes of failure, levels of service restoration, and collaborative development of resilience measures.
