Date/Time
Date(s) - Thu 27 August
19:00 - 20:00
Location
Lecture Theatre One (GBLT1), Old Government Buildings, VUW
GSNZ Wellington Branch Lecture
Rob Langridge
Paleoseismology Team Leader, Earth Sciences NZ
The 23rd February 1863 Waipukurau earthquake, estimated at Mw7.5, is one of our lesser-known early colonial earthquakes. Recent reanalysis of historical documents from newspapers and letters shows it was widely felt across young Aotearoa New Zealand. It was strongly felt across Hawke’s Bay and caused almost every chimney in Napier to be toppled. However, less is known about the source area. In this talk, Rob Langridge presents background to the earthquake and clues to where the source faults were, drawing on accounts of flooding and river avulsion that occurred in 1867 and again due to Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023. Avulsion of the Waipawa River and the subsequent history of Lake Roto-a-Tara provide the backdrop for recognising surface faulting along the eastern part of the Waipukurau-Poukawa Fault Zone, and put this quake in a framework of historical strain release across eastern New Zealand from the mid-19th to 20th centuries.
Bio: Dr. Rob Langridge has worked as an Earthquake Geologist at Earth Sciences NZ and GNS Science since 2000 focusing on researching the active faults of Aotearoa New Zealand with a particular interest in earthquake sequences through the plate boundary system from the Alpine Fault to Hawke’s Bay.
5.15pm pre-talk gathering at Backbencher Gastropub, Snacks provided by the branch.
This talk will be available live via Zoom but not recorded.
Join Zoom meeting
Contact: wellington@gsnz.org.nz