From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1888 North Canterbury earthquake

Earthquake in New Zealand

Field	Value
title	1888 North Canterbury earthquake
pre-1900	yes
map2	{{Location map	New Zealand	relief=1
position	none
lat	-42.6
long	172.4
width	250
float	center
mark	Bullseye1.svg
marksize	40
timestamp	1888-08-31 16:40
local-date
local-time	04:10
magnitude	7.0–7.3
depth	12 km
engvar	en-UK
location
countries affected	South Island New Zealand
casualties	1 fatality (indirect)

|pre-1900 = yes |local-date= |local-time= 04:10

The 1888 North Canterbury earthquake occurred at 4:10 am on 1 September following a sequence of foreshocks that started the previous evening, and whose epicentre was in the North Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand. The epicentre was approximately 35 km west of Hanmer.

In Christchurch, about 100 km southeast of the epicentre, shaking lasted for 40 to 50 seconds. The magnitude of the earthquake is estimated to be in the range 7.0–7.3. Severe damage to farm buildings in the epicentral region was reported and the top 7.8 m of the spire of ChristChurch Cathedral collapsed. It was the first earthquake observed to be associated with mainly horizontal fault displacement.

Tectonic setting

Map of the Marlborough Fault System showing location of the Hope Fault

New Zealand lies along the boundary between the Australian and Pacific plates.

In the South Island, most of the relative displacement between these plates is taken up along a single dextral (right lateral) strike-slip fault with a major reverse component, the Alpine Fault.

In the North Island, displacement is mainly taken up along the Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone, although the remaining dextral strike-slip component is accommodated by the North Island Fault System.

Earthquake

The earthquake occurred on the Hope Fault, one of the group of dextral strike-slip structures known as the Marlborough fault system that transfer displacement between the mainly transform and convergent type plate boundaries in a complex zone at the northern end of South Island. Alexander McKay, a geologist working for the geological survey, observed horizontal offsets in farm fences between 1.5 and along the fault. He was the first to associate a strike-slip displacement with an earthquake.

Damage

This surveyor stands at a fence that crosses the Hope Fault near Glynn Wye Station. The fence, originally straight, has been kinked by the sideways movement of the land.

In the North Canterbury region many buildings were severely damaged, particularly in the Hope Valley and Hanmer areas. Landslides occurred in unconsolidated sediment and fissures up to 30 cm wide were observed.

In Christchurch, the top 7.8 m of the Cathedral spire fell down and minor damage, such as broken chimneys, affected many houses. The Durham Street Methodist Church, Christchurch's first church build with permanent materials, suffered some damage to its stonework. Another building affected was the Christchurch Normal School, where chimneys fell down and ceilings were cracked.

Damage was greatest in the northern and northwestern suburbs, probably due to the peaty sub-soil.

One person died of a heart attack during the earthquake.

References

"M 7.0 North Canterbury Sat, Sep 1 1888". [[GNS Science]].
Grapes, Rodney. (October 2006). "Alexander McKay and the Discovery of Lateral Displacement on Faults in New Zealand". Centaurus.
Mouslopoulou, V., Nicol, A., Little, T. A., & Walsh, J. J. (2007). [http://sp.lyellcollection.org/content/290/1/387.abstract Terminations of large strike-slip faults: an alternative model from New Zealand]. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, '''290''' (1), pp. 387–415.
Van Dissen, R., & Yeats, R. S. (1991). [http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/content/19/4/393.abstract Hope fault, Jordan thrust, and uplift of the seaward Kaikoura Range, New Zealand] ''Geology'' '''19''' (4), pp. 393–396
McSaveney, Eileen. (13 July 2012). "Page 4 – The 1888 North Canterbury earthquake". [[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]].
(2020). "Patterns of earthquake-related mortality at a whole-country level: New Zealand, 1840–2017". Earthquake Spectra.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

earthquakes-in-new-zealand 1888-in-new-zealand 1888-earthquakes history-of-the-canterbury-region september-1888 1888-disasters-in-new-zealand

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1888 North Canterbury earthquake — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report