Back Velký alpský zlom Czech Alpine Fault German Falla alpina Spanish Sesar Alpen ID Faglia alpina Italian Great Alpine Fault Dutch Uskok alpejski Polish Falha Alpina Portuguese Альпийский разлом Russian Alpine fault SIMPLE
| Alpine Fault | |
|---|---|
 Movement along the Alpine Fault is deforming the continent of Zealandia, with the southern part (on the Pacific plate) sliding past and slightly onto the northwest part (on the Australian plate). | |
 Map of active Alpine Fault on land (red). Click on the map to enable mouse over of fault features.[1] | |
| Etymology | Southern Alps |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Region | West Coast and Southland regions |
| Characteristics | |
| Range | Southern Alps |
| Length | 600 km (370 mi) |
| Strike | NE-SW |
| Displacement | 30 mm (1.2 in)/yr |
| Tectonics | |
| Plate | Australian, Pacific |
| Status | Active |
| Earthquakes | 1717 prehistoric |
| Type | Strike-slip fault |
| Movement | Up to Mw8.2,[2] dextral/convergent, east side up |
| Age | Miocene-Holocene |
| Orogeny | Kaikoura |
| New Zealand geology database (includes faults) | |
The Alpine Fault is a geological fault that runs almost the entire length of New Zealand's South Island, being about 600 km (370 mi).[a] long, and forms the boundary between the Pacific plate and the Australian plate.[4] The Southern Alps have been uplifted on the fault over the last 12 million years in a series of earthquakes. However, most of the motion on the fault is strike-slip (side to side), with the Tasman district and West Coast moving north and Canterbury and Otago moving south. The average slip rates in the fault's central region are about 38 mm (1.5 in) a year, very fast by global standards.[5] The last major earthquake on the Alpine Fault was in about 1717 AD with a great earthquake magnitude of Mw8.1± 0.1.[2] The probability of another one occurring before 2068 was estimated at 75 percent in 2021.[6][7]
- ^ "GNS:New Zealand Active Faults Database". Retrieved 2023-04-29.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Howarth2018was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Cochran2017was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Alpine Fault / Major Faults in New Zealand / Earthquakes / Science Topics / Learning / Home – GNS Science". gns.cri.nz. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
- ^ Graham 2015, pp. 120.
- ^ "Research finds Alpine Fault quake more likely in the next 50 years, Our Science, 01 June 2021". gns.cri.nz. 1 June 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ "Alpine Fault: Probability of damaging quake higher than previously thought". RNZ. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).