Wellington, May 27: New research has uncovered an active fault near New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, indicating a higher earthquake risk than previously estimated.
According to a press release from the University of Auckland, the ‘Mangatawhiri Fault’ runs alongside the Hunua Ranges, located approximately 50 kilometers south of the city. This fault has the potential to generate earthquakes of up to magnitude 6.8.
The study, published in the New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, found that this fault has been active within the last 10,000 years. Typically, a fault is considered active if it has moved in the last 125,000 years.
Co-author and geologist James Muirhead stated, “If the entire fault were to rupture simultaneously, it could have severe consequences for residents in South Auckland, potentially impacting Central Auckland as well.”
He noted that this is the first time radiocarbon dating has been conducted on a fault in the Auckland region, revealing that our understanding of the area’s seismic history is still quite limited. According to him, the earthquake risk in Auckland may be significantly higher than what residents and policymakers have previously thought.
Auckland experiences minor earthquakes annually, but most are too small or distant to be felt.
These findings come at a time when Auckland is expanding southwest, bringing more people and infrastructure closer to the fault. Researchers suggest that increasing the level of earthquake risk in the city may necessitate stricter building regulations. Last year, Auckland was exempted from regulations concerning earthquake-prone buildings, as the risk was considered low.
Hannah Martin, the lead author of the research, stated, “This is an active fault capable of generating a significant earthquake in an area where people typically do not expect it.”
New Zealand experiences earthquakes daily, with instruments recording over 20,000 seismic movements each year. Most of these are minor and go unnoticed, but around 150 to 200 are strong enough for people to feel.
Between 1840 and 2016, earthquakes in New Zealand directly or indirectly claimed the lives of 501 individuals.
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