Complex multifault rupture during the 2016 <i>M</i> _w 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake, New Zealand

TLDR

The 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake, one of New Zealand’s largest, involved multiple faults generating ground shaking, unlike most earthquakes. A new slip model reveals that 12 faults ruptured, jumping up to 15 km apart, making the event incredibly complex and prompting a rethink of seismic hazard models. Hamling et al.

Abstract

An earthquake with a dozen faults The 2016 moment magnitude ( M w ) 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake was one of the largest ever to hit New Zealand. Hamling et al. show with a new slip model that it was an incredibly complex event. Unlike most earthquakes, multiple faults ruptured to generate the ground shaking. A remarkable 12 faults ruptured overall, with the rupture jumping between faults located up to 15 km away from each other. The earthquake should motivate rethinking of certain seismic hazard models, which do not presently allow for this unusual complex rupture pattern. Science , this issue p. eaam7194