1931 HB Earthquake Commemorative Lecture: the Kaikōura earthquake and its consequences

The 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake was associated with a complex array of surface ruptures that caused damage to engineered structures, particularly the transportation network. The fault rupture mechanism was a complex system that involved at least 21 faults along an approx. 180 km zone. Many were already mapped as active or geological faults prior to the earthquake, although some specific surface traces were previously unknown. The earthquake ruptured the entire mapped lengths of some faults, and the partial lengths of others. This talk is about geological and seismological characteristics of the complex multi-fault rupture.

Russ van Dissen was born, raised and educated in the western USA. He moved to New Zealand about 25 years ago to take up a position with the then Earth Deformation Section of the New Zealand Geological Survey. His research specialties include earthquake geology and seismic hazard assessment and he has had significant involvement in the development of the Ministry for the Environment’s “Active Fault Guidelines”; characterisation of the surface fault rupture along the Greendale Fault during the September 2010 Darfield earthquake; and the “It’s Our Fault” project that aimed to better define earthquake risk in the Wellington Region. He is currently working on the Kaikōura earthquake response.