New Zealand Active Faults Database

Database

The New Zealand Active Faults Database (NZAFD) contains the surface traces of onshore active faults. Active faults in Aotearoa New Zealand are defined as those that have ruptured the ground surface during the last 125,000 years (except for in the Taupō Rift, where the definition of activity is restricted to only include the last 25,000 years).

This database includes only onshore active faults, with the exception of offshore faults that ruptured during the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake.

The NZAFD is produced by GNS Science and represents the most current mapping of active faults for New Zealand in a single database. The NZAFD can be accessed on the GNS webmap via the link below.

The NZAFD contains two distinct datasets based on scale:

  1. The high-resolution (NZAFD-HighRes) dataset (1:10,000 scale or better), designed for portrayal and use at cadastral (property) scale. This is currently only available to be viewed on the GNS webmap for some regions.
  2. The generalised (NZAFD-AF250) dataset, designed for portrayal and use at regional scale (1:250,000 scale). This can be viewed and downloaded on the GNS webmap for the entire country.

Both datasets comprise polylines that represent the location of an active fault trace at or near the surface, at different scales. Each fault trace has attributes that describe its name, sense of movement, displacement, recurrence interval and other parameters.

The high-resolution dataset group on the GNS webmap also includes two polygon layers derived from the NZAFD:

  • Fault Avoidance Zones, which delineate areas of surface rupture hazard, as defined by the Ministry for the Environment Active Fault Guidelines (Kerr et al. 2003(external link)), or modifications thereof.
  • Fault Awareness Areas, which highlight areas where a surface rupture hazard may exist (Barrell et al. 2015(external link)) and where more work is needed.

The GNS webmap displays active fault layers via a Web Map Service(external link) (WMS). The layers are visible at different scales depending on the data resolution. The NZAFD-AF250 dataset only turns on when zoomed out for viewing at regional scale. The detailed NZAFD-HighRes traces, Fault Avoidance Zones and Fault Awareness Areas become visible when zoomed into levels appropriate for viewing these high-resolution datasets. Associated reports can also be downloaded for the high-resolution layers, where available.

The webmap and WMS will be updated, and further areas added to the high-resolution datasets, periodically. The layers within the high-resolution dataset group can be used to identify active faults at the individual property scale.

Explanatory information (metadata) about the NZAFD and how it can be used is available to download here(external link). Metadata for the Fault Avoidance Zones can be found here(external link), or here(external link) for Fault Awareness Areas.

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