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Alpine Fault study co-authored by University of Nevada, Reno’s Glenn Biasi shows new evidence for regular magnitude 8 earthquakes » biasi_NZ2 hillside

University of Nevada, Reno seismologist Glenn Biasi and colleagues at GNS Science in New Zealand dig through layers of silt along the Hokuri River in New Zealand’s Southern Alps on the South Island to find ancient samples of leaves, small twigs and marsh plants for radiocarbon dating. The team established that the Alpine Fault causes, on average, earthquakes of around a magnitude 8 every 330 years. They estimate the 50-year probability of a large Alpine fault earthquake to be about 27 percent. Photo courtesy University of Nevada, Reno.

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University of Nevada, Reno seismologist Glenn Biasi spent eight days in the dense forests on the western side of the Southern Alps on the South Island of New Zealand to study the Alpine Fault, among the world’s longest, straightest and fastest moving plate boundary faults. Photo courtesy University of Nevada, Reno.