Alpine Fault

Alpine Fault
Movement along the Alpine Fault is deforming the continent of Zealandia, with the southern part (on the Pacific Plate) sliding past and slightly onto the northwest part (on the Australian Plate).
Map of active Alpine Fault on land (red). Click on the map to enable mouse over of fault features.[1]
Etymology	Southern Alps
Country	New Zealand
Region	West Coast and Southland Regions
Characteristics
Range	Southern Alps
Length	600 km (370 mi)
Strike	NE-SW
Displacement	30 mm (1.2 in)/yr
Tectonics
Plate	Australian, Pacific
Status	Active
Earthquakes	1717 prehistoric
Type	Strike-slip fault
Movement	Up to Mw8.2,[2] dextral/convergent, east side up
Age	Miocene-Holocene 12–0.0003 Ma[3] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Orogeny	Kaikoura
New Zealand geology database (includes faults)

The Alpine Fault is a geological fault that runs almost the entire length of New Zealand's South Island, being about 600 km (370 mi).^{[n 1]} long, and forms the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Australian Plate.^[4] The Southern Alps have been uplifted on the fault over the last 12 million years in a series of earthquakes. However, most of the motion on the fault is strike-slip (side to side), with the Tasman district and West Coast moving north and Canterbury and Otago moving south. The average slip rates in the fault's central region are about 38 mm (1.5 in) a year, very fast by global standards.^[5] The last major earthquake on the Alpine Fault was in about 1717 AD with a great earthquake magnitude of M_w8.1± 0.1.^[2] The probability of another one occurring before 2068 was estimated at 75 percent in 2021.^[6][7]

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