Hope Fault - Recent Seismic Activity

Recent Seismic Activity

The most recent earthquake on the Hope Fault was the 1888 North Canterbury earthquake, which ruptured the whole of the Hope River segment. Alexander McKay, a geologist working for the New Zealand geological survey, observed horizontal offsets in farm fences of between 1.5 and 2.6 metres along the fault. He was the first to associate a strike-slip displacement with an earthquake. The longest segment, the Conway segment, shows evidence of past earthquakes, although none have been recorded since European settlement in about 1850. investigations show that at least 3 events have occurred, the most recent of which is dated as between 1720-1840 A.D.

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