1931 HB Earthquake Commemorative Lecture:The Kaikoura 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.