As title suggests and out of curiosity, I wonder which NZ cities has the lowest possibility of being hit by earthquake?
As title suggests and out of curiosity, I wonder which NZ cities has the lowest possibility of being hit by earthquake?
Can't answer specifically, but have you looked at Geonet?
http://www.geonet.org.nz/index.html
P
There are several factors to take into account: Distance to a fault line, actual ground material and a "general " hazard factor.
Considering only the latter there are two regions with the lowest coefficient: Northland from the top down to Bombay and the lower east coast of South Island from about Waimate to Fortrose. This includes Whangarei and Auckland in the north and Oamaru and Dunedin in the south.
Bearing in mind that the Christchurch earthquake was cause by a previously unknown fault
Only partially true in this case.
Yes; the actual fault that moved was unknown but there are large numbers of faults in the area that are known; some of which are relatively big. So an earthquake of Christchurch's magnitude was not unexpected. What is unexpected is the number, and magnitude, of aftershocks caused by the new Greendale fault.
Therefore, when asking where you are least likely to experience an earthquake Christchurch would never have been an option - as an earthquake was always a distinct possibility!
If you're worried about natural disasters then saty away from NZ altogether. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis are all possibilities, with the chance of one leading to the other two! But the chances are tiny, things designed to survive most events, and it's part of life. You're probably less likely to get caught in a terrorist attack in NZ than the US or UK, so it all balances out.
I would say Christchurch (after a year or so) because all other cities in NZ have plate pressure building up. Christchurch is in the process of being released up and thus, probably won't see another major earthquake for 100s of years.
Just my guess