1929 Arthur's Pass earthquake

Earthquake in New Zealand March 2024 October 2024 1929 Arthur's Pass earthquake 1929-03-09 10:50:32 907935 iscgem907935 9 March 1929 22:50 NZST New Zealand 7.1 l y South Island New Zealand en-UK -42.791 171.928 region:NZ-CAN_type:event inline, title Oblique-slip VIII None The 1929 Arthur's Pass earthquake occurred at 10:50 pm NZMT 11:20 GMT on 9 March. The sparsely settled region around Arthur's Pass of the Southern Alps shook for four minutes.Eileen McSaveney Historic earthquakes Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand 21 September 2007 http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/EarthSeaAndSky/NaturalHazardsAndDisasters/HistoricEarthquakes/en https://web.archive.org/web/20090102063602/http://www.teara.govt.nz/EarthSeaAndSky/NaturalHazardsAndDisasters/HistoricEarthquakes/en 2 January 2009 dead 12 September 2016 Tremors continued almost continuously until midnight and sporadic strong aftershocks were felt for several days. The earthquake was measured at 7.1 on the Richter scale and the intensity of shaking in the epicentral region has been assessed from historical records as VIII (Severe) on the Modified Mercalli Scale. Intensities of VI (Strong) were observed in Christchurch and Westport. The earthquake occurred on the Poulter Fault, which was not identified and mapped until 2001. Tectonic setting 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 the 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.Mouslopoulou, V., Nicol, A., Little, T.A. & Walsh, J.J. 2007. Terminations of large strike-slip faults: an alternative model from New Zealand. In: Cunningham, W. D. & Mann, P (eds).Tectonics of Strike-Slip Restraining and Releasing Bends. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, 290; p. 387–415. The Poulter Fault runs for approximately 50 km east-northeast from near the confluence of the Bealey and Mingha rivers to the valley of the South Hurunui River. Between 16 km and 36 km of the fault ruptured, with dextral displacement of up to 4 metres and dip-slip displacement of 1–2 metres (North side up).Surface rupture of the Poulter Fault in the 1929 March 9 Arthur's Pass earthquake, and redefinition of the Kakapo Fault, New Zealand New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 47 2 341–351 Kelvin Berryman, Pilar Villamor 20 May 2004 10.1080/00288306.2004.9515060 2004NZJGG..47..341B free Effects Numerous landslides were triggered, damaging the Midland Railway and blocking roads. The highway connecting Canterbury and the West Coast via Arthur's Pass was closed for several months. Many water tanks and chimneys were damaged or toppled. Two years after the earthquake, trampers in the Otahake Valley discovered that a 900m high section of the side of a mountain had collapsed, blocking the valley and sending debris 5 km downstream.Fluvial response to large rock-slope failures: Examples from the Himalayas, the Tien Shan, and the Southern Alps in New Zealand Geomorphology Oliver Korup Alexander Strom Johannes Weidinger 1 August 2006 78 1–2 3–21 10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.01.020 2006Geomo..78....3K Although the earthquake was one of the largest land-based earthquakes to strike New Zealand in the 20th century, it was overshadowed by the more deadly 1929 Murchison earthquake a few months later.March 2022 See also List of earthquakes in 1929 List of earthquakes in New Zealand References External links Photograph of Falling Mountain landslip – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand 907935 Category:March 1929 1929 Arthur's Pass Arthurs Pass Earthquake, 1929 New Zealand - Arthur's Pass Category:History of the Canterbury Region