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Tsunami runup and tide-gauge observations from the 14 November 2016 M7.8 Kaikōura earthquake, New Zealand

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Abstract

The 2016 M w 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake was one of the largest earthquakes in New Zealand’s historical record, and it generated the most significant local source tsunami to affect New Zealand since 1947. There are many unusual features of this earthquake from a tsunami perspective: the epicentre was well inland of the coast, multiple faults were involved in the rupture, and the greatest tsunami damage to residential property was far from the source. In this paper, we summarise the tectonic setting and the historical and geological evidence for past tsunamis on this coast, then present tsunami tide gauge and runup field observations of the tsunami that followed the Kaikōura earthquake. For the size of the tsunami, as inferred from the measured heights, the impact of this event was relatively modest, and we discuss the reasons for this which include: the state of the tide at the time of the earthquake, the degree of co-seismic uplift, and the nature of the coastal environment in the tsunami source region.

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(Photo source: D Strong)

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(Photo source: J Howarth)

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(Photo source: DN King)

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(Photo source: DN King)

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(photo source: EM Lane)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GNS Science, PO Box 30368, Lower Hutt, New Zealand

    William Power, Kate Clark, Jamie Howarth, Christof Mueller, Delia Strong & Nicola Litchfield

  2. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA), 41 Market Place, Viaduct Harbour, Auckland, New Zealand

    Darren N. King

  3. eCoast Marine Consulting and Research, Raglan, PO Box 151, Waikato, New Zealand

    Jose Borrero

  4. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-2531, USA

    Jose Borrero

  5. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA), 10 Kyle Street, Riccarton, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Emily M. Lane, Shaun Williams, Jo Hoyle & Jochen Bind

  6. Mulgor Consulting Limited, Tower Junction, PO Box 9320, Christchurch, 8149, New Zealand

    Derek Goring

  7. PANGEA Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Australia, Sydney, 2052, NSW, Australia

    James Goff & Catherine Chagué-Goff

  8. Department of Geological Sciences, College of Science, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand

    James Williams & Catherine Reid

  9. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Auckland, PB 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand

    Colin Whittaker

  10. Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand

    Matthew W. Hughes

  11. Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, 6140, New Zealand

    Adrian Benson

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  1. William Power
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  2. Kate Clark
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Correspondence to William Power.

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Power, W., Clark, K., King, D.N. et al. Tsunami runup and tide-gauge observations from the 14 November 2016 M7.8 Kaikōura earthquake, New Zealand. Pure Appl. Geophys. 174, 2457–2473 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-017-1566-2

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