The Alpine Fault marks the boundary between the Pacific and Australian plates in the South Island of New Zealand.
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The chances of New Zealand’s Alpine Fault rupturing in a damaging earthquake in the next 50 years are much higher than previously thought, according to our research, published today.
The 850km Alpine Fault runs along the mountainous spine of the South Island, marking the boundary where the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates meet and grind against each other, forcing up the Southern Alps. Over the past 4,000 years, it has ruptured more than 20 times, on average around every 250 years.
Alpine Fault earthquakes are recorded in lake sediment deposits.