District-level earthquake hazard assessments have been completed for Kaikoura, Hurunui, Waimakariri, Selwyn, Ashburton, Timaru, Mackenzie, Waimate and part Waitaki districts. These assessments are focused towards the potential effects of earthquakes on engineering lifelines (critical infrastructure).

The earthquake hazard assessments include information on historic earthquakes, the location of active faults, expected ground shaking intensities for different time periods, general liquefaction susceptibility, and earthquake-induced landslide susceptibility. The later earthquake hazard assessments also included earthquake scenarios outlining possible effects and impacts in the short and longer term.

The earthquake hazard assessments are all large documents, but the executive summaries are available below. The full reports are available from Environment Canterbury customer services, and each district council also holds a copy.

Kaikoura district earthquake hazard assessment (2009)

This report describes the earthquake hazard in Kaikoura district and gives details of historic earthquakes. It includes district-scale (1:250,000) active fault, ground shaking zone, liquefaction and landslide susceptibility maps.

The report describes an earthquake scenario for a magnitude 7.0-7.3 Hope Fault earthquake near Kaikoura, and a subsequent local tsunami.

Read the executive summary (66kB)

Hurunui district natural hazard assessment (2000)

This report describes earthquake, flooding, meteorological, landslide and coastal hazards within Hurunui district and gives details of historic events. It includes district-scale (1:250,000) active fault and flood hazard maps.

The report describes an earthquake scenario for a magnitude 6.9 earthquake near Cheviot (as well as flooding, meteorological, landslide, coastal erosion, storm surge, and tsunami scenarios).

Read the executive summary (308kB)

Waimakariri district earthquake hazard assessment (2009)

This report describes the earthquake hazard in Waimakariri district and gives details of historic earthquakes. It includes district-scale (1:250,000) active fault, ground shaking zone, liquefaction and landslide susceptibility maps.

The report describes earthquake scenarios for a magnitude 7.1 earthquake on the Porters Pass-Amberley Fault Zone and a magnitude 6.4 Springbank Fault earthquake near Rangiora.

Read the executive summary (63kB)

Selwyn district earthquake hazard assessment (2006)

This report describes the earthquake hazard in Selwyn district and gives details of historic earthquakes. It includes district-scale (1:250,000) active fault, ground shaking zone, liquefaction and landslide susceptibility maps.

The report describes earthquake scenarios for a magnitude 7.0-7.3 earthquake on the Porters Pass-Amberley Fault Zone and a magnitude 8 Alpine Fault earthquake.

Read the executive summary (35kB)

Ashburton district earthquake hazard assessment (2002)

This report describes the earthquake hazard in Ashburton district and gives details of historic earthquakes. It includes district-scale (1:250,000) active fault, ground shaking zone, liquefaction and landslide susceptibility maps.

The report describes earthquake scenarios for a magnitude 7.0-7.3 earthquake on the Mt Hutt-Mt Peel Fault Zone and a magnitude 8 Alpine Fault earthquake.

Read the executive summary (283kB)

Timaru district earthquake hazard assessment (2001)

This report describes the earthquake hazard in Timaru district and gives details of historic earthquakes. It includes district-scale (1:250,000) active fault, ground shaking zone, liquefaction and landslide susceptibility maps.

The report describes earthquake scenarios for amagnitude 7.0-7.3 earthquake on the Mt Hutt-Mt Peel Fault Zone and a magnitude 8 Alpine Fault earthquake.

Read the executive summary (200kB)

Waimate, Mackenzie and part Waitaki districts earthquake hazard assessment (2008)

This report describes the earthquake hazard in Waimate and Mackenzie districts and the part of Waitaki district within Canterbury, and gives details of historic earthquakes. It includes district-scale (1:500,000) active fault, ground shaking zone, liquefaction and landslide susceptibility maps.

The report describes earthquake scenarios for a magnitude 7.2-7.4 Ostler Fault earthquake near Twizel, a magnitude 8 Alpine Fault earthquake, and a magnitude 6.9 Hunters Hills Fault Zone earthquake near Waimate.

This work included a study of the Hunters Hills Fault Zone, a previously little-studied earthquake fault that runs along the base of the Hunters Hills behind Waimate and Timaru. The study showed that the fault is capable of generating magnitude 6.8-6.9 earthquakes, but it appears to have a relatively long recurrence interval (long-term average time between fault movements) of at least 5,000 to 10,000 years.

Read the executive summary (68kB)

Hunters Hill Fault Zone Study - Earthquake Hazard Assessment report (1.5 MB)

Christchurch city

The Christchurch Engineering Lifelines Group (now the Canterbury Lifeline Utility Group) produced Risks and Realities in 1997. The report presented the findings of a vulnerability assessment of Christchurch and Lyttelton infrastructure for a number of hazards, including earthquakes. You can find more information and download copies of Risks and Realities from the Centre for Advanced Engineering website.

A literature review was undertaken by Opus for Environment Canterbury in 2006 as Stage 1 of a wider Christchurch Earthquake Risk Assessment Study. The study was not continued because Christchurch was subsequently used as a pilot study area for the Riskscape project. The Riskscape project is being developed by GNS Science and NIWA which aims to model the consequences of different hazards on different communities.

Christchurch Earthquake Risk Assessment Report - Part 1 (2.5 MB)