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The Earthquake Commission (EQC) is funding research that aims to identify the potential for earthquakes to occur in low earthquake hazard zones.
The project, led by University of Otago Earthquake Science chair Mark Stirling, has received $68,000 in funding from the commission.
Stirling’s team will study areas in Otago and Dunedin. They will dig trenches and look at when they have ruptured and how big the earthquake was.
“The biggest danger in an area like Otago is that we don’t think there is going to be an earthquake on one of these ‘quiet’ faults, so we don’t prepare as much as we would in somewhere like Wellington,” Stirling said. “These might be earthquakes that only come along over periods of thousands, or even tens of thousands of years. But when they do, they can be quite damaging.
“And Dunedin, with its beautiful old buildings and unreinforced masonry could be more at risk than Dunedinites think,” he added.
EQC research strategy and science investment manager Richard Smith, meanwhile, highlighted that Stirling’s work is important for building resilient communities.
“This research will help paint a picture of how Dunedin and Otago could be affected by a future earthquake,” he said. “Data from the research will also feed into the National Seismic Hazard Model, which in turn is used to develop the standards for building strength in different parts of the country.”
