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Kōrero: Earthquakes

New Zealand regions at greatest risk of ground shaking

New Zealand regions at greatest risk of ground shaking

Some parts of New Zealand are more likely to experience severe earthquakes than others. The colours on this map indicate the likely severity of shaking in different areas – in technical terms, the ground motion which has a 10% chance of occurring within 50 years. These predictions are based on the distribution of active faults, how frequently faults have moved in the past, and the location of historic earthquakes. The zone where the strongest shaking is likely corresponds to the southern part of the Alpine Fault, extending along the Hope Fault into Marlborough.

The 2010–11 Canterbury earthquakes are outside the areas of greatest statistical risk of high ground shaking. This illustrates the point that large earthquakes may occur anywhere in the New Zealand region, not just in the highest risk areas.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: GNS Science

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Eileen McSaveney, Earthquakes – Living with earthquakes, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/map/4416/new-zealand-regions-at-greatest-risk-of-ground-shaking (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Eileen McSaveney, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009, updated 1 August 2017.

Comments

Sean
28 December 2013
These comments seem to be from people who do not understand how this works. This image is a historical collection of earthquake data including knowledge of active faults. Throughout greater history Christchurch was low risk, and seemingly the flare up we've had was isolated and should have de-stressed many smaller faults which in the longer term should make us safer. Offshore drilling causing a magnitude 7+ in Christchurch??? Maybe something small offshore. If it was going to happen it would happen anyway, just potentially a little later and possibly more severe as pressure builds over time. Offshore drilling really has nothing to do with mainland EQs
Marty
12 August 2013
It's the thought of moving south that brought me to this web site. Gives the north another edge. Begs the question, why would we support a govt that would welcome offshore drilling?
Reuben gray
28 June 2011
yeah i think these geo net scientists dont like being proved wrong there idiots ken ring was more accurate then all of them and now hes under a gag order and christchurch is still expecting another 7.1 shake either off the darfield fault banks peninsula fault or the hamner springs fault and lately in christchurch i been smelling sulphar it smells like rotten eggs and that sulphar from the fisher thats opened up in hoon hay but the media dont talk about that ae
Te Ara
08 March 2011
Thanks for your comment Zoe. While it might seem that the map is wrong, other factors also contributed to the severity of shaking in Christchurch recently. This blog post might explain it better: http://blog.teara.govt.nz/2011/02/24/wellington-christchurchs-earthquake-risk/.
zoe
04 March 2011
well they got that wrong didnt they...chch should be bright red