Understanding our Shaky Landscape

Most earthquakes occur on faults, which are weaknesses in the Earth's crust. Faults come in lots of different sizes and so do earthquakes – we feel some earthquakes, but most of them we only know about because they are measured on seismographs.

Scroll down to learn what causes them to occur ↓

Scientists have created the New Zealand Active Faults Database, which maps all the active on-land faults in New Zealand that we know about.

An 'active fault' is any fault where an earthquake has occurred in the last 100,000 years. This database, managed by GNS Science, doesn't show our offshore faults, of which there are many.

Explore our active faults below ⭣

GeoNet is responsible for recording all the earthquakes in New Zealand. Earthquakes are measured using magnitude and intensity to help us understand their size and how we feel them.

GeoNet use a network of seismographs to locate where an earthquake has occurred and measure how much energy it released. Watch the video below to learn more about how this measuring is done.

Keep scrolling to learn more about measuring earthquakes⭣

We all feel earthquakes differently. Some earthquakes may feel long and rolling whereas others may be quick sharp jolts, some can be a mixture of both!

How we feel an earthquake depends on four key factors, find out about each one below ↓

We can also use the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) Scale to understand what a future earthquake could feel like to help us plan and be better prepared.

Scroll down to see what this looks like for the Alpine Fault and Hikurangi subduction zone ↓

We can't predict earthquakes, but we can use our knowledge of active faults and past earthquakes to better understand them. This helps us understand the likelihood of a future earthquake occurring in a certain location.

Scientists have created the National Seismic Hazard Model to help us understand where our earthquake hazard is. Most of it is related to our plate boundary and our two major plate boundary faults – the Alpine Fault and the Hikurangi subduction zone.

Use the slider on the image below to see where the earthquake hazard is in New Zealand ↓

Now that you've explored our shaky landscape test your knowledge in our quiz and find out if you are an earthquake expert!