The Kermadec/Taupo Volcanic Zone fault also has many active faults associated with rifting and extension of the crust in the area.The Wairarapa and Wellington Faults are examples of this type of oblique fault, with a horizontal and vertical component. Oblique fault An earthquake that is a combination of strike-slip and reverse or normal faulting, with a combined horizontal and vertical component. You can often see metres of horizontal displacement in large enough strike-slip earthquakes. The Greendale Fault (M7.1 Darfield 2010 earthquake) moved in strike-slip motion and ruptured the Earth’s surface. The Alpine Fault is the most well-known fault in New Zealand to move in a strike-slip motion.
There is very little up or down movement. Strike-slip Strike-slip faulting is where two blocks of land on either side of the fault move past each other horizontally. It is rare that an earthquake ruptures the surface, because most earthquakes are not big enough and occur several kilometres or more below the surface. Blind faults are where any type of fault motion produces an earthquake that doesn’t rupture the Earth’s surface. A reverse fault is where one block of land moves over top of the other one. They often cause a tsunami due to displacing the water vertically when the seafloor thrusts up.īlind thrust fault Where a reverse fault earthquake does not rupture the Earth’s surface. Similar to some cloud radars with Doppler capability, Doppler spectra are saved as output from the weather radar birdbath scans, indicating the signal power as. Large, mega-thrust subduction zone earthquakes worldwide are always reverse faulting, such as the M9.1 Sumatra 2004 and M9.1 Tohoku 2011 earthquakes. Many shallow earthquakes are reverse faulting, including the M6.2 Christchurch 2011 earthquake. Reverse faulting occurs all over New Zealand. A thrust fault is a certain type of reverse faulting where the angle of movement is less than 45 degrees. Reverse fault A reverse fault is where one block of land moves over top of the other one. The M6.5 Edgecumbe 1987 earthquake is an example of normal faulting. The Taupō Volca no Zone is an extensional rift zone and normal faulting is common in this region. Normal fault Normal fault motion is where one overlying block of land moves or slides down relative to the lower block. This video shows the different types of motion. Blocks of land can move in several different ways relative to each other during an earthquake.