We present ground motion simulations of the Porters Pass (PP) fault in the Canterbury region of New Zealand; a major active source near Christchurch city. The active segment of the PP fault has an inferred length of 82 km and a mostly strike-slip sense of movement. The PP fault slip makes up approximately 10% of the total 37 mm/yr margin-parallel plate motion and also comprises a significant proportion of the total strain budget in regional tectonics. Given that the closest segment of the fault is less than 45 km from Christchurch city, the PP fault is crucial for accurate earthquake hazard assessment for this major population centre. We have employed the hybrid simulation methodology of Graves and Pitarka (2010, 2015), which combines low (f<1 Hz) and high (f>1 Hz) frequencies into a broadband spectrum. We have used validations from three moderate magnitude events (๐๐ค4.6 Sept 04, 2010; ๐๐ค4.6 Nov 06, 2010; ๐๐ค4.9 Apr 29, 2011) to build confidence for the ๐๐ค > 7 PP simulations. Thus far, our simulations include multiple rupture scenarios which test the impacts of hypocentre location and the finite-fault stochastic rupture representation of the source itself. In particular, we have identified the need to use location-specific 1D ๐๐ /๐๐ models for the high frequency part of the simulations to better match observations.
Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel preparing a Hercules C-130 to evacuate rest home residents affected by the Canterbury Earthquake.
Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel preparing a Hercules C-130 to evacuate rest home residents affected by the Canterbury Earthquake.
Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel preparing a Hercules C-130 to evacuate rest home residents affected by the Canterbury Earthquake.
Members of the University of Canterbury's E-Learning team in their temporary office space in the NZi3 building. The photographer comments, "E-Learning group meeting; Jess Hollis, Antoine Monti, Susan Tull, Alan Hoskin, Herbert Thomas".
Tents set up in the Fine Arts car park at the University of Canterbury, used for teaching while lecture theatres were closed for structural testing. The photographer comments, "The 'tent city' on the Arts car park".
Smoke billowing from the remains of the collapsed Canterbury Television building on Madras Street. Below, emergency personnel are searching through the rubble for trapped people. A piece of corrugated plastic is being used to slide pieces of debris off the site.
Emergency personnel gathered on Madras Street outside the collapsed Canterbury Television building. A digger can be seen searching the rubble while fire fighters work to extinguish the fire in the building.
A view across the corner of London and Canterbury Streets to the Ground Culinary Centre. Large sections of the building's walls have cracked and collapsed, spilling masonry onto the footpath. Wire fencing has been placed around the building as a cordon.
A view from the corner of Durham and Armagh Streets to the historic Canterbury Provincial Council buildings. The building's clock tower has collapsed onto Armagh Street, and the street has been closed off with wire fencing and road cones.
Emergency personnel searching for people trapped in the collapsed Canterbury Television Building on Madras Street. Their efforts include using a piece of corrugated plastic as a slide to remove objects from the rubble. Smoke can be seen rising from the building.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Canterbury Provincial Chambers on Durham Street. One of the entrance ways has crumbled, and the rubble has fallen in front. An inner door can be seen, now leading to nowhere.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Canterbury Provincial Chambers. The top section of the building has crumbled, the masonry spilling onto the footpath. Wire fencing has been placed around the building as a cordon.
University of Canterbury Vice-Chancellor Rod Carr, UCSA President Kohan McNab, and former Chancellor Rex Williams, speaking with a woman in the UCSA car park.
University of Canterbury library staff in their temporary office in the NZi3 building. The photographer comments, "University of Canterbury administration all fits into one building! Well, sort of. Library staff - contacting publishers to ask for free online resources. A very high hit rate, shame they're not on commission".
Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel carrying a rest home resident onto a Hercules C-130 for evacuation following the Canterbury Earthquake.
Staff meet in temporary office space set up in the NZi3 building. The photographer comments, "University of Canterbury administration all fits into one building! Well, sort of. Two meeting spaces in the middle of the floor".
A woman sits reading beside the "University of Canterbury" sign on Clyde Road. In the background are the tents used while lecture theatres were closed for structural testing. The photographer comments, "From Clyde Rd, all seemed intact".
A member of the Student Volunteer Army heading home with his shovel on his shoulder after spending a day clearing liquefaction from Christchurch properties.
Former Labour Party leader, Phil Goff, talking to students assembling wheelbarrows for the Student Volunteer Army at the University of Canterbury. The wheelbarrows will be used to clear silt from Christchurch properties.
Wheelbarrows being returned to Burwood Park by students from the University of Canterbury. The students have been using them to clear liquefaction from Christchurch properties as part of the Student Volunteer Army.
Wheelbarrows being returned to Burwood Park by students from the University of Canterbury. The students have been using them to clear liquefaction from Christchurch properties as part of the Student Volunteer Army.
Photograph captioned by the New Zealand Defence Force, "The NZ Defence Force helps out after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. HMNZS Canterbury arrives back in Lyttelton Harbour after a very fast return trip to Wellington to resupply".
Photograph captioned by the New Zealand Defence Force, "The NZ Defence Force helps out after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. HMNZS Canterbury arrives back in Lyttelton Harbour after a very fast return trip to Wellington to resupply".
Photograph captioned by the New Zealand Defence Force, "The NZ Defence Force helps out after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. HMNZS Canterbury arrives back in Lyttelton Harbour after a very fast return trip to Wellington to resupply".
Members of the University of Canterbury's E-Learning team in their temporary office in the NZi3 building. The photographer comments, "University of Canterbury administration all fits into one building! Well, sort of. Alison McIntyre, manager of the liaison librarians, and Herbert Thomas, e-learning team leader, discussing support for teachers".
A photograph of the rubble of the Observatory tower in the South Quad of the Christchurch Arts Centre. The tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Scaffolding constructed around the tower has also collapsed and is amongst the rubble.
A close-up photograph of parts of the Townsend Telescope recovered from the rubble of the Observatory tower. The telescope was housed in the tower at the Christchurch Arts Centre. It was severely damaged when the tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
University of Canterbury staff members prepare to be escorted to their buildings by Civil Defence members in order to retrieve essential items from their offices. The photographer comments, "Susan Tull (E-learning), Leigh Davidson (MBA administrator), Bob Reed (Economics)".
The University of Canterbury is known internationally for the Origins of New Zealand English (ONZE) corpus (see Gordon et al 2004). ONZE is a large collection of recordings from people born between 1851 and 1984, and it has been widely utilised for linguistic and sociolinguistic research on New Zealand English. The ONZE data is varied. The recordings from the Mobile Unit (MU) are interviews and were collected by members of the NZ Broadcasting service shortly after the Second World War, with the aim of recording stories from New Zealanders outside the main city centres. These were supplemented by interview recordings carried out mainly in the 1990s and now contained in the Intermediate Archive (IA). The final ONZE collection, the Canterbury Corpus, is a set of interviews and word-list recordings carried out by students at the University of Canterbury. Across the ONZE corpora, there are different interviewers, different interview styles and a myriad of different topics discussed. In this paper, we introduce a new corpus โ the QuakeBox โ where these contexts are much more consistent and comparable across speakers. The QuakeBox is a corpus which consists largely of audio and video recordings of monologues about the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes. As such, it represents Canterbury speakersโ very recent โdanger of deathโ experiences (see Labov 2013). In this paper, we outline the creation and structure of the corpus, including the practical issues involved in storing the data and gaining speakersโ informed consent for their audio and video data to be included.