COMET releases initial satellite and field measurements of the Christchurch New Zealand Earthquake

On the 4th of September 2010, a large magnitude 7 earthquake struck the South Island of New Zealand, west of the largest city of the Island, Christchurch. COMET+ researchers, in collaboration with field geologists in New Zealand, are measuring the ground displacements due to this event in order to investigate the rupture on this previously unrecognised fault.

In the early hours of the 4th September, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred on the South Island of New Zealand with significant damage to property but fortunately no loss of life. The epicentre as determined by the USGS is located 50 km west Christchurch (the main population centre in the South Island, pop. ~1/3 million). Initial seismological solutions indicated an east-west striking right-lateral strike-slip fault that occurred relatively shallowly in the earth's crust. Aftershocks recorded by the New Zealand GeoNet (Figure 1) support an east-west striking fault with a fault rupture zone about 50 km long.