New Zealand: The Canterbury earthquakes, what have we learned?
A long-lasting and influential repository of scientific results that will be of use not only to the scientific community
A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS FROM NEW ZEALAND has set out to understand and learn from the devastating “Canterbury earthquake sequence” that commenced with the Mw 7.1 Darfield (Canterbury) earthquake on 4 September 2010 and continued during a prolonged aftershock sequence that included the fatal Mw 6.2 Christchurch earthquake of 22 February 2011.
The results of their study have just been published as a special issue of the New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 55:3 (2012).
The issue mainly addresses the unforgettable events of 2010 and 2011. But as of mid-2012, the Editors note, the “aftershock sequence continues to produce potentially damaging (ML>4) earthquakes in the vicinity of Christchurch city and the surrounding region”, making the research presented in this collection even more timely and important.
The Canterbury earthquake sequence made an ideal source of study for the researchers, and this special issue aims to “facilitate broad-ranging documentation and analysis of its characteristics and impacts”.
Not only has the sequence been exceptionally well documented by these and other scientists with a diverse range of datasets collected using complementary techniques, the papers in this special issue make clear that the sequence will serve as a target of scientific, engineering and social scientific research into earthquake phenomenology for years to come. Moreover, the information presented will “enable researchers in New Zealand and elsewhere to revisit and reinterpret key datasets as part of ongoing collaborative work” to increase our understanding of and resilience to earthquakes.
The 17 papers in this special issue take a wide range of approaches. The first six discuss the geological, structural and tectonic contexts for the seismicity based on field mapping, geophysical studies and an analysis of historical seismicity. The next two papers document the location and amount of slip on the major faults that ruptured during the sequence. The following four papers characterise the hydrological, geological and geomorphic impacts of the largest earthquakes. These papers are followed by four more that address seismological aspects of the sequence as a whole. The final paper in the volume addresses the role of geoscientific research – and geoscientists themselves – in the governmental and societal response to and recovery from these earthquakes.
The Editors note that the earthquake sequence’s relevance goes much further than the tragic events in New Zealand: “In particular, lessons learned from Canterbury regarding long-lived complex aftershock sequences and the effects on built structures of moderate-magnitude earthquakes happening nearby will be of relevance in earthquake prone areas around the world.”
This special issue of New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics is indeed, in the Editors’ words, a “long-lasting and influential repository of scientific results that will be of use not only to the scientific community”, but also to educators, policy-makers and the media throughout New Zealand and overseas.
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Read the full editorial published in New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics online now: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00288306.2012.712539
Download the entire special issue ‘The 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence’ now: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tnzg20/55/3
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