Wairarapa Fault
| Wairarapa Fault | |
|---|---|
Wairarapa Fault (orange) in context main strands of North Island Fault System. | |
Map of active Wairarapa Fault traces (red) | |
| Etymology | Wairarapa |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Region | Wairarapa region |
| Characteristics | |
| Range | Rimutaka Range |
| Segments | multiple |
| Length | over 120 km (75 mi) on shore, likely 160 km (99 mi) in total |
| Strike | reverse northeast trending |
| Dip | steeply northwest |
| Displacement | up to 11.5 mm (0.45 in)/year ± 0.5 mm (0.020 in)/year |
| Tectonics | |
| Plate | Australian |
| Status | Active |
| Earthquakes | 1855 Wairarapa earthquake |
| Type | Dextral fault |
| Movement | Mw8.1, maximum slip in 1855 was 18.7 m (61 ft) with up to 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in) of vertical displacement |
| Age | Miocene-Holocene |
| New Zealand geology database (includes faults) | |
The Wairarapa Fault is an active seismic fault in the southern part of the North Island of New Zealand. It is a dextral (right lateral) strike-slip fault with a component of uplift to the northwest as expressed by the Rimutaka Range. It forms part of the North Island Fault System, which accommodates the transfer of displacement along the oblique convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian plate and Pacific plate.