Two slow-motion earthquakes under North Island, New Zealand

Two slow-motion earthquakes under North Island, New Zealand

Two slow-motion earthquakes have been taking place so far in 2022 under the central and eastern North Island, New Zealand. These events are like earthquakes in slow motion, unfolding over weeks to months and cannot be felt by humans.

Slow-slip event in progress under the Kāpiti-Horowhenua area, New Zealand

Slow-slip event in progress under the Kāpiti-Horowhenua area, New Zealand

A slow-slip event began under the Kāpiti-Horowhenua area, New Zealand in mid-September 2021, and is expected to continue for several more months. The part of the subducting Pacific Plate 30 – 50 km (18 – 31 miles) beneath Kāpiti has started moving slowly again…

New slow-slip event detected near Gisborne, New Zealand

New slow-slip event detected near Gisborne, New Zealand

A slow-slip event started around June 14, 2021, near Gisborne, New Zealand and models suggest several cm of movement has occurred at the plate boundary so far. This is the second slow-slip event off the coast of North Island since the May 2021 event near Porangahau….

World’s longest recorded earthquake lasted for 32 years

World’s longest recorded earthquake lasted for 32 years

The devastating M8.5 earthquake that shook Sumatra, Indonesia, in 1861 was long believed to be a sudden rupture on a previously quiescent fault. However, new research showed that tectonic plates below the island had been slowly crashing against each other for 32…

Study reveals inner workings of slow-slip earthquakes

Study reveals inner workings of slow-slip earthquakes

Slow-slip earthquakes have been detected at many earthquake hotspots in the world, including areas around the Pacific Ring of Fire, but it remains unclear as to how they are linked to the damaging quakes that take place there. In a new study, researchers at The…

Seismologists find slow earthquakes in Cascadia predictable

Seismologists find slow earthquakes in Cascadia predictable

Seismologists at Caltech analyzed 10 years' worth of slow-slip events that result from episodic fault slip, like regular earthquakes, but only produce barely perceptible quakes in the Cascadia region of the Pacific Northwest. They found that this particular type…

Slow-slip event detected off the coast of Gisborne, New Zealand

Slow-slip event detected off the coast of Gisborne, New Zealand

GNS scientists are monitoring a slow-slip event that started at the end of March 2019 near Gisborne, off the east coast of North Island, New Zealand. Slow-slip events are linked to an increase in localized earthquake activity. A similar sequence of earthquakes was…