Two regions of seafloor deformation generated the tsunami for the 13 November 2016, Kaikoura, New Zealand earthquake

Abstract The 13 November 2016 Kaikoura, New Zealand, Mw 7.8 earthquake ruptured multiple crustal faults in the transpressional Marlborough and North Canterbury tectonic domains of northeastern South Island. The Hikurangi trench and underthrust Pacific slab terminate in the region south of Kaikoura,...

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Main Authors: Yefei Bai, Thorne Lay, Kwok Fai Cheung, Lingling Ye
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2017-07-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073717
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author Yefei Bai
Thorne Lay
Kwok Fai Cheung
Lingling Ye
author_facet Yefei Bai
Thorne Lay
Kwok Fai Cheung
Lingling Ye
author_sort Yefei Bai
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The 13 November 2016 Kaikoura, New Zealand, Mw 7.8 earthquake ruptured multiple crustal faults in the transpressional Marlborough and North Canterbury tectonic domains of northeastern South Island. The Hikurangi trench and underthrust Pacific slab terminate in the region south of Kaikoura, as the subdution zone transitions to the Alpine fault strike‐slip regime. It is difficult to establish whether any coseismic slip occurred on the megathrust from on‐land observations. The rupture generated a tsunami well recorded at tide gauges along the eastern coasts and in Chatham Islands, including a ~4 m crest‐to‐trough signal at Kaikoura where coastal uplift was about 1 m, and at multiple gauges in Wellington Harbor. Iterative modeling of teleseismic body waves and the regional water‐level recordings establishes that two regions of seafloor motion produced the tsunami, including an Mw ~7.6 rupture on the megathrust below Kaikoura and comparable size transpressional crustal faulting extending offshore near Cook Strait.
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spelling doaj-art-e647200b63b8419ca77bdec4ea7043822025-08-20T03:10:28ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072017-07-0144136597660610.1002/2017GL073717Two regions of seafloor deformation generated the tsunami for the 13 November 2016, Kaikoura, New Zealand earthquakeYefei Bai0Thorne Lay1Kwok Fai Cheung2Lingling Ye3Department of Ocean and Resources Engineering University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu Hawaii USADepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz California USADepartment of Ocean and Resources Engineering University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu Hawaii USASeismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USAAbstract The 13 November 2016 Kaikoura, New Zealand, Mw 7.8 earthquake ruptured multiple crustal faults in the transpressional Marlborough and North Canterbury tectonic domains of northeastern South Island. The Hikurangi trench and underthrust Pacific slab terminate in the region south of Kaikoura, as the subdution zone transitions to the Alpine fault strike‐slip regime. It is difficult to establish whether any coseismic slip occurred on the megathrust from on‐land observations. The rupture generated a tsunami well recorded at tide gauges along the eastern coasts and in Chatham Islands, including a ~4 m crest‐to‐trough signal at Kaikoura where coastal uplift was about 1 m, and at multiple gauges in Wellington Harbor. Iterative modeling of teleseismic body waves and the regional water‐level recordings establishes that two regions of seafloor motion produced the tsunami, including an Mw ~7.6 rupture on the megathrust below Kaikoura and comparable size transpressional crustal faulting extending offshore near Cook Strait.https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073717EarthquakeTsunamiHikurangi subduction zone
spellingShingle Yefei Bai
Thorne Lay
Kwok Fai Cheung
Lingling Ye
Two regions of seafloor deformation generated the tsunami for the 13 November 2016, Kaikoura, New Zealand earthquake
Geophysical Research Letters
Earthquake
Tsunami
Hikurangi subduction zone
title Two regions of seafloor deformation generated the tsunami for the 13 November 2016, Kaikoura, New Zealand earthquake
title_full Two regions of seafloor deformation generated the tsunami for the 13 November 2016, Kaikoura, New Zealand earthquake
title_fullStr Two regions of seafloor deformation generated the tsunami for the 13 November 2016, Kaikoura, New Zealand earthquake
title_full_unstemmed Two regions of seafloor deformation generated the tsunami for the 13 November 2016, Kaikoura, New Zealand earthquake
title_short Two regions of seafloor deformation generated the tsunami for the 13 November 2016, Kaikoura, New Zealand earthquake
title_sort two regions of seafloor deformation generated the tsunami for the 13 november 2016 kaikoura new zealand earthquake
topic Earthquake
Tsunami
Hikurangi subduction zone
url https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073717
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