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Planning for Ground Rupture in Aotearoa New Zealand
Identifying zones where the ground might rupture in future earthquakes is doable, but deciding on how to mitigate this hazard is not straightforward.
Breaking Ground
When large earthquakes break the Earth’s crust right up to the ground surface, the resulting displacement can damage or destroy buildings and structures above the fault.
Relative movement between each side of the fault can be many metres – such as the 12-metre horizontal displacement measured on the Kēkerengū Fault in the Kaikōura Earthquake of 2016
Extensive damage to this Bluff Station building happened when the Kēkerengū Fault ruptured the ground surface in the Kaikōura Earthquake of 2016. Image credit: Julian Thomson, courtesy GNS Science.
Te Hiranga Ru QuakeCoRE’s International Delegation:
Fault Displacement Hazard Workshop
Location:
Ōtautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand
Dates:
15-17 May 2024
Host Institution:
Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha University of Canterbury
Convenors:
- Tim Stahl
(University of Canterbury) - Nicola Litchfield
(GNS Science) - Liam Wotherspoon
(University of Auckland) - Jeff Fraser
(WSP)
Invited International Experts:
- Alex Sarmiento
(UCLA) - Paolo Boncio
(Università di Chieti-Pescara) - Fiia Nurminen
(RINA Consulting) - Robb Moss
(CalPoly San Luis Obispo) - Steve Thompson
(Lettis Consultants International)
Attendees:
50 participants representing:
- 8 countries
- 11 consultancies
- 8 universities
- local and national government agencies
Link to QuakeCoRE’s Research Programme:
Disciplinary Theme 1: Integrated Seismic Geohazards
Further Information:
Contact Tim Stahl
Arguably, fault displacement hazard is avoidable. With mapping of known active faults, avoidance zones can be defined, or a risk-based approach applied where development has already occurred.
Aotearoa New Zealand has guidelines for dealing with land on or close to active faults but they are not mandatory so there is no consistency in how they are applied or whether they are considered at all.
There are moves abroad to quantify fault displacement hazard using approaches similar to the new National Seismic Hazard Model, and to develop design standards accordingly, but this has not yet been undertaken here.
Learning from Each Other
Aware of this progress overseas, earthquake geologist Tim Stahl was keen to harness international insights to advance equivalent research in Aotearoa New Zealand.
This aligned well with Te Hiranga Rū QuakeCoRE’s mission to carry out world-class research in earthquake resilience by fostering collaboration. In the wake of the pandemic, QuakeCoRE offered funding for international delegations – in recognition of the need to reconnect in person with overseas colleagues.
Instead of taking a delegation overseas, Tim proposed bringing experts to Aotearoa New Zealand so that a wide group of participants could engage in discussion.
So, the Fault Displacement Hazard Workshop was initiated with the aims of bringing together a community of practice, to learn from teams around the world, and to plan future research for Aotearoa New Zealand.
Interdisciplinary Interactions
Finding solutions for living with active faults requires input from earthquake geologists, engineering geologists, civil and structural engineers, land-use planners, local and national government leaders, and communities.
So, it was a diverse crew who came together at the workshop to present research and discuss the intricacies of fault displacement hazard. As one participant observed,
“It was fantastic to have people from so many different backgrounds and expertise in the same room. Both the information shared, and the discussions (formal and informal) were invaluable!”
Workshop convenors invited professionals from overseas research groups such as the Fault Displacement Hazard Initiative based in California and the European-led Fault2SHA.
Speakers presented on everything from probabilistic fault displacement hazard analysis to societal considerations of implementing mitigation strategies.
Into the Real World
Participants didn’t have to travel far to see world class examples of what they had been talking about for two days.
Tim led a fieldtrip to North Canterbury to view first-hand some of the fault displacements that occurred in the Kaikōura Earthquake. Even Tim was impressed,
“Every time I go there I’m blown away. I’ve probably been there 100 times and it’s still amazing.”
International visitors got to see that multiple zones of surface rupture spanning many kilometres are possible from a single earthquake.
They also witnessed how fault displacement can intensify other hazards such as landsliding and flooding.
The experience was made particularly salient by talking with the landowner of Woodchester Station. Visitors heard about the tough roller-coaster of damage, repair, and resilience the family have lived through since the earthquake.
This brought home the fact that fault displacement and its consequences can uproot lives and livelihoods, if not take them.
Next Steps
No country has fault displacement hazard perfectly sorted out – it’s a work in progress everywhere. In some places building on active faults is illegal, in others certain building types are permitted, or engineering solutions are recommended.
Strong themes that came out of the workshop were around interaction and communication – it’s an interdisciplinary problem so clear communication between diverse groups will be needed to solve it properly.
Currently there’s a white paper being drafted to articulate the urgent need for further work on this hazard in New Zealand and to plan the next steps.
Workshop attendees certainly came away with renewed motivation to work as a community to improve life safety and reduce the impacts of this hazard on humans. In the words of one participant, “A super-great, thought-provoking, direction-pointing workshop.”
Banner image credit: Wall of Waiau rupture of the Leader Fault by Kate Pedley.
In 2024 Te Hiranga Rū QuakeCoRE's Request for Proposals (RfP) Round that will open in September will include International Delegation Funding Grants.
Funding is available to support major delegations that will contribute to the development of strategic partnerships and major international research collaborations. Delegations should be led by a senior academic, who is a QuakeCoRE Programme Area Leader (PAL) or Associate Investigator (AI) and will engage with a significant international research centre that is an existing QuakeCoRE Affiliate Organisation, or equivalent. Funding is available to support incoming or outgoing delegations. Support will be for a focused plan of engagement which facilitates a medium-to-long term plan for ongoing collaboration.
For more information visit the Opportunities page of our website, or contact [email protected].
