Effects of Earthquakes on Flood Hazards: A Case Study From Christchurch, New Zealand

Earthquakes can influence flood hazards by altering the flux, volumes, and distributions of surface and/or subsurface waters and causing physical changes to natural and engineered environments (e.g., elevation, topographic relief, permeability) that affect surface and subsurface hydrologic regimes. This paper analyzes how earthquakes increased flood hazards in Christchurch, New Zealand, using empirical observations and seismological data. Between 4 September 2010 and 4 December 2017, this region hosted one moment magnitude (Mw) 7.1 earthquake, 3 earthquakes with Mw ≥ 6, and 31 earthquakes with local magnitude (ML) ≥ 5. Flooding related to liquefaction-induced groundwater pore-water fluid pressure perturbations and groundwater expulsion occurred in at least six earthquakes. Flooding related to shaking-induced ground deformations (e.g., subsidence) occurred in at least four earthquakes. Flooding related to tectonic deformations of the land surface (fault surface rupture and/or folding) occurred in at least two earthquakes. At least eight earthquakes caused damage to surface (e.g., buildings, bridges, roads) and subsurface (e.g., pipelines) infrastructure in areas of liquefaction and/or flooding. Severe liquefaction and associated groundwater-expulsion flooding in vulnerable sediments occurred at peak ground accelerations as low as 0.15 to 0.18 g (proportion of gravity). Expected return times of liquefaction-induced flooding in vulnerable sediments were estimated to be 100 to 500 years using the Christchurch seismic hazard curve, which is consistent with emerging evidence from paleo-liquefaction studies. Liquefaction-induced subsidence of 100 to 250 mm was estimated for 100-year peak ground acceleration return periods in parts of Christchurch.

Download Full-text

Flood Schemes, Flood Hazards, and Awareness in New Zealand

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3383224 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Patrick Walsh ◽

Ryan Paulik ◽

Thomas Robertson

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Flood Hazards

Download Full-text

Source dynamics of the 1979 Imperial Valley earthquake from near-source observations (of ground acceleration and velocity)

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America ◽

10.1785/bssa07206a1957 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 72 (6A) ◽

pp. 1957-1968

Author(s):

Mansour Niazi

Keyword(s):

Particle Acceleration ◽

Particle Velocity ◽

High Frequency ◽

Observation Point ◽

P Wave ◽

Imperial Valley ◽

Ground Acceleration ◽

Data Set ◽

Ground Shaking ◽

Fault Surface

abstract Two sets of observations obtained during the 15 October 1979 Imperial Valley earthquake, MS 6.9, are presented. The data suggest different dynamic characteristics of the source when viewed in different frequency bands. The first data set consists of the observed residuals of the horizontal peak ground accelerations and particle velocity from predicted values within 50 km of the fault surface. The residuals are calculated from a nonlinear regression analysis of the data (Campbell, 1981) to the following empirical relationships, PGA = A 1 ( R + C 1 ) − d 1 , PGV = A 2 ( R + C 2 ) − d 2 in which R is the closest distance to the plane of rupture. The so-calculated residuals are correlated with a positive scalar factor signifying the focusing potential at each observation point. The focusing potential is determined on the basis of the geometrical relation of the station relative to the rupture front on the fault plane. The second data set consists of the acceleration directions derived from the windowed-time histories of the horizontal ground acceleration across the El Centro Differential Array (ECDA). The horizontal peak velocity residuals and the low-pass particle acceleration directions across ECDA require the fault rupture to propagate northwestward. The horizontal peak ground acceleration residuals and the high-frequency particle acceleration directions, however, are either inconclusive or suggest an opposite direction for rupture propagation. The inconsistency can best be explained to have resulted from the incoherence of the high-frequency radiation which contributes most effectively to the registration of PGA. A test for the sensitivity of the correlation procedure to the souce location is conducted by ascribing the observed strong ground shaking to a single asperity located 12 km northwest of the hypocenter. The resulting inconsistency between the peak acceleration and velocity observations in relation to the focusing potential is accentuated. The particle velocity of Delta Station, Mexico, in either case appears abnormally high and disagrees with other observations near the southeastern end of the fault trace. From the observation of a nearly continuous counterclockwise rotation of the plane of P-wave particle motion at ECDA, the average rupture velocity during the first several seconds of source activation is estimated to be 2.0 to 3.0 km/sec. A 3 km upper bound estimate of barrier dimensions is tentatively made on the basis of the observed quasiperiodic variation of the polarization angles.

Download Full-text

Observations of Aseismic Slip Driven by Fluid Pressure Following the 2016 Kaikōura, New Zealand, Earthquake

Geophysical Research Letters ◽

10.1029/2018gl079224 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 45 (20) ◽

Author(s):

Ian J. Hamling ◽

Phaedra Upton

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Fluid Pressure ◽

Aseismic Slip

Download Full-text

Coseismic displacements of the 14 November 2016 Mw7.8 Kaikoura, New Zealand, earthquake using an optical cubesat constellation

10.5194/nhess-2017-30 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Andreas Kääb ◽

Bas Altena ◽

Joseph Mascaro

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Land Surface ◽

Near Infrared ◽

Sar Interferometry ◽

Optical Methods ◽

Optical Data ◽

Surface Displacements ◽

Before And After ◽

Optical Satellite Images ◽

Sentinel 2

Abstract. Satellite measurements of coseismic displacements are typically based on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) interferometry or amplitude tracking, or based on optical data such as from Landsat, Sentinel-2, SPOT, ASTER, very-high resolution satellites, or airphotos. Here, we evaluate a new class of optical satellite images for this purpose – data from cubesats. More specific, we investigate the PlanetScope cubesat constellation for horizontal surface displacements by the 14 November 2016 Mw7.8 Kaikoura, New Zealand, earthquake. Single PlanetScope scenes are 2–4 m resolution visible and near-infrared frame images of approximately 20–30 km × 9–15 km in size, acquired in continuous sequence along an orbit of approximately 375–475 km height. From single scenes or mosaics from before and after the earthquake we observe surface displacements of up to almost 10 m and estimate a matching accuracy from PlanetScope data of up to ±0.2 pixels (~ ±0.6 m). This accuracy, the daily revisit anticipated for the PlanetScope constellation for the entire land surface of Earth, and a number of other features, together offer new possibilities for investigating coseismic and other Earth surface displacements and managing related hazards and disasters, and complement existing SAR and optical methods. For comparison and for a better regional overview we also match the coseismic displacements by the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake using Landsat8 and Sentinel-2 data.

Download Full-text

Performance of Steel Pipeline with Concrete Coating (Modeled with Concrete Damage Plasticity) Underseismic Wave Passage

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.459.608 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 459 ◽

pp. 608-613 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Joanna M. Dulinska ◽

Dorota Jasinska

Keyword(s):

Seismic Analysis ◽

Seismic Zone ◽

Ground Acceleration ◽

Steel Pipeline ◽

Ground Deformations ◽

Inelastic Behaviour ◽

Concrete Damage ◽

Concrete Coating ◽

Wave Passage ◽

Tensile Damage

The paper presents the analysis of the dynamic response of a steel pipeline with concrete coating to a real earthquakeregistered in central Poland in 2012. The peak ground acceleration of the shock was scaled up to maximal values predicted for this seismic zone. To represent theinelastic behavior of the material of the concrete coating under dynamic loading, the concrete damaged plasticity constitutive model was assumed.The modelallows to describeplastic strains and irreversible tensile and compression damage that occurs during the cracking process.For seismic analysis two models (uniform and non-uniform) of kinematic excitation were applied. In the modelof uniform excitation it was assumed that the motion of all supports was identical. Inthe model of non-uniform excitation, typical for long structures, the wave passage along the pipelinewith different velocities (500, 400 and 300 m/s) was taken into account. It occurred that for the model of uniform excitation the concrete material of the coating remained elastic with no tensile damage. For the model of non-uniform excitation, inelastic behaviour of the coating was observed. The plastic strain areas appeared above all supports. The tensile damage (cracking) wasalso noticed in these areas: the lower wave velocity was assumed, the greater area of concrete coating was affected by plastic strains and tensile damage (cracking). It was the consequence of the quasi-static effects which resulted from ground deformations imposed on the pipeline during the seismic shock.

Download Full-text

Numerical Simulations of Effects of Soil Moisture and Modification by Mountains over New Zealand in Summer

Monthly Weather Review ◽

10.1175/2010mwr3324.1 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 139 (2) ◽

pp. 494-510 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Yang Yang ◽

Michael Uddstrom ◽

Mike Revell ◽

Phil Andrews ◽

Hilary Oliver ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

New Zealand ◽

Moisture Content ◽

Air Temperature ◽

Land Surface ◽

Soil Moisture Content ◽

Surface Air Temperature ◽

Shortwave Radiation ◽

Lower Sensitivity ◽

The South

Abstract Historically most soil moisture–land surface impact studies have focused on continents because of the important forecasting and climate implications involved. For a relatively small isolated mountainous landmass in the ocean such as New Zealand, these impacts have received less attention. This paper addresses some of these issues for New Zealand through numerical experiments with a regional configuration of the Met Office Unified Model atmospheric model. Two pairs of idealized simulations with only contrasting dry or wet initial soil moisture over a 6-day period in January 2004 were conducted, with one pair using realistic terrain and the other pair flat terrain. For the mean of the 6 days, the differences in the simulated surface air temperature between the dry and moist cases were 3–5 K on the leeside slopes and 1–2 K on the windward slopes and the central leeside coastal region of the South Island in the afternoon. This quite nonuniform response in surface air temperature to a uniformly distributed soil moisture content and soil type is mainly attributed to modification of the effects of soil moisture by mountains through two different processes: 1) spatial variation in cloud coverage across the mountains ranges leading to more shortwave radiation at ground surface on the leeside slope than the windward slope, and 2) the presence of a dynamically and thermally induced onshore flow on the leeside coast bringing in air with a lower sensitivity to soil moisture. The response of local winds to soil moisture content is through direct or indirect effects. The direct effect is due to the thermal contrast between land and sea/land shown for the leeside solenoidal circulations, and the indirect effect is through the weakening of the upstream blocking of the South Island for dryer soils shown by the weakening and onshore shift of the upstream deceleration and forced ascent of incoming airflow.

Download Full-text

The long-term conservation of forest diversity in New Zealand

Pacific Conservation Biology ◽

10.1071/pc950077 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 77 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

John Ogden

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Land Surface ◽

Alpha Diversity ◽

Forest Diversity ◽

Forest Reserves ◽

Introduced Plants ◽

Wide Range ◽

Average Loss ◽

Endemic Flora

The largely endemic flora of New Zealand is a remnant of the Cretaceous flora of Gondwana, supplemented by later additions from Australia and the tropics. Semi-natural plant communities cover about 50% of the country, and a scheme for the protection of supposedly representative areas is in place. Existing reserves do not adequately reflect the patterns of plant species diversity. Many are modified by introduced animals and alien plants. The latter are being actively introduced into New Zealand at the rate of c. 11 species per year. Measures of diversity are discussed and the broad pattern of (gamma) diversity and endemicity in the country is described. A comparison is made between (alpha) diversity levels in Beech Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioidesand Kauri Agathis australisforest. Within each of these two forest types there are similar levels of alpha-diversity over a wide range of latitude. Altitudinal alpha-diversity trends indicate an average loss of 3.4 species per 100 m of altitude. This can be accounted for by the reduction of land surface area with increasing altitude on conical or ridge-shaped mountains. The altitudinal data emphasize the importance of the lowlands in the conservation of bio-diversity. The Holocene history of the forests in New Zealand suggests that the concept of "representativeness" is flawed: forest varies continuously in time and space. It may be possible to create some "living museums" of the past biota of New Zealand, but unless there are radical changes in our ability to eradicate animal pests and introduced plants, the composition of mainland forest reserves in the lowlands will change dramatically over the next few centuries. Conservation effort on saving endangered birds may have been at the expense of long-term "habitat" survival on the mainland.

Download Full-text

An Empirical Modelling of New Zealand Hospitality and Tourism Stock Returns

ISRN Economics ◽

10.1155/2013/289718 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2013 ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Christine Lim ◽

Felix Chan

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Stock Returns ◽

Money Supply ◽

Discount Rate ◽

Expected Returns ◽

Tourism Demand ◽

Expected Return ◽

Risk Premiums ◽

Term Premium ◽

Unit Increase

This paper examines the factor risk premiums of stock returns for the hospitality and tourism companies in New Zealand. The Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) approach is used to investigate the expected return for stock portfolio with respect to market, macro (i.e., money supply and discount rate), and tourism factor sensitivities. Monthly stock prices, market index, tourism, and macroeconomic data are used in the study. The results indicate that the risk premiums for international tourism demand and term premium (proxy for discount rate) are positively significant at the 5% level. A one unit increase in tourist arrival sensitivity would result in expected return increase of 10 to 17 percentage point. Similarly, a one unit increase in term premium can increase hospitality-tourism expected returns by 0.2 percentage point. However, the findings for the money supply factor are not significant. As the study shows that investors face high positive tourism demand risk, it is imperative for firms and policymakers in New Zealand to promote inbound tourism through effective marketing and management. This in turn can provide high expected returns and create shareholder value for investors.

Download Full-text

VI.—Notes on the Graptolite-bearing Rocks of New Zealand

Geological Magazine ◽

10.1017/s0016756800121508 ◽

1909 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 74-75

Author(s):

E. Douglass Isaacson

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Land Surface ◽

Western Coast ◽

Forest Trees ◽

The West ◽

North West ◽

Stunted Growth ◽

Extreme North ◽

North And South ◽

Leptospermum Scoparium

The series of beds containing graptolites in New Zealand occur in the Whakamarama district, which is situated in almost the extreme north-west of the South Island. They consist of intercalated bands of quartzite and carbonaceous argillites, with a north and south strike and dipping at a low angle to the west. As a result of the natural erosion of the land surface taking place more rapidly in the slaty layers than in the harder quartzites, the ridges and stream valleys exhibit a noticeable parallelism, those streams which enter the sea on the western coast usually taking a very sharp bend to the west, and with a somewhat gorgy channel to the sea. The valleys are for the most part densely clothed with forest trees, while the ridges of quartzite are barren, with the exception of a stunted growth of manuka (Leptospermum scoparium and L. ericoides), and in places a covering of peat to a depth of a few inches.

Download Full-text