Repeated giant earthquakes on the Wairarapa fault, New Zealand, revealed by Lidar-based paleoseismology.

ABSTRACT: The Mw 7.8 2016 Kaikoura earthquake ruptured the Kekerengu-Needle fault resulting in the loading of its eastern continuation, the Wairarapa fault. Since the most recent earthquake on Wairarapa occurred in 1855 and is one of the strongest continental earthquakes ever observed, it is critical to assess the seismic potential of the Wairarapa fault, which might be prone to break. Using Lidar data, we examine its bare-earth morphology and reveal ~650 mostly undiscovered offset geomorphic markers. Using a code we developed in earlier work, we automatically measure the lateral and vertical offsets of these markers providing more than 7000 well constrained measurements. The data document the lateral and vertical slip profiles of the 1855 earthquake for the first time and show its total slip reache

SUBMITTER: Manighetti I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7005692 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature