1929 Murchison earthquake

magnitude of 7.3, and was felt throughout New Zealand. There were 17 deaths, mostly as a result of landslides triggered by the earthquake. The rumbling sound of the earthquake was loud enough to be heard at New Plymouth, more than 250 km (155 mi) away.^[2]

Marlborough Fault System. The sense of displacement across the plate boundary is oblique and most of the faults have a reverse component of slip. Some of the resulting deformation is accommodated within the plates themselves away from the boundary.^[3] The 1929 Murchison earthquake occurred on the White Creek Fault, located in the Buller Gorge.^[1]

epicentre was in a sparsely populated area about 65 km (40 mi) north of Murchison, the shaking in the surrounding region was intense enough to cause damage over a wide area. The towns of Nelson, Greymouth and Westport were all affected and roads, buildings and bridges were severely damaged throughout an area estimated at 26,000 km² (10,000 mi²).^[1] The worst damage was caused by landslides triggered by the shaking, which destroyed several homes and resulted in 14 of the 17 deaths. Two other deaths were caused by coal mine collapses. Most of the buildings in the Murchison area were built of wood and were warped and moved from their piles, but many brick buildings and chimneys were damaged in Nelson, Greymouth and Westport.^[2]

Mercalli intensity scale has been estimated for Murchison. Most of the northern part of South Island suffered an intensity of VII (Very strong) or greater.^[2]

p-waves