Crown Research Institute GNS Science has just posted the first aerial fault trace of the earthquake that struck Saturday 40km south-west of Christchurch.GNS says the earthquake produced a 22km-long surface rupture and up to 4m of horizontal displacem
Crown Research Institute GNS Science has just posted the first aerial fault trace of the earthquake that struck Saturday 40km south-west of Christchurch.
GNS says the earthquake produced a 22km-long surface rupture and up to 4m of horizontal displacement in alluvial terraces that were deposited about16,000 years ago at the end of the last glaciation (indicating that was the time of the last major quake in the area).
"Before Saturday, there was nothing in the landscape that would have suggested there was an active fault beneath the Darfield and Rolleston areas," said Kelvin Berryman, Manager of the GNS' Natural Hazards Platform.
"Geologists have no information on when the fault last ruptured as it was unknown until last weekend. All we can say at this stage is that this newly revealed fault has not ruptured since the gravels were deposited about 16,000 years ago."
Here's the video:
