This Rocky Wall Was Created By The New Zealand Earthquake

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The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that stuck the South Island of New Zealand on November 14, 2016, have changed the geography of the region, particularly around the epicenter. In the countryside around Waiau, about 30km east of Hanmer Springs, where the shaking was the highest, a section of the earth has lifted vertically forming a long rocky wall, fifteen foot tall.

These impressive pictures were captured by Dr. Kate Pedley, of University of Canterbury's Department of Geological Sciences, when she and her colleagues encountered this massive fracture in the landscape as they were surveying countryside for evidence of faulting.

Photo credit: Dr Kate Pedley

Dr Kate Pedley (168 cm tall) standing next to a scarp. Photo credit: Dr Kate Pedley

Photo credit: Dr Kate Pedley

Photo credit: Dr Kate Pedley

Photo credit: Dr Kate Pedley

Photo credit: Dr Kate Pedley

A similar uplifting was seen at a beach, where a part of the seabed was thrust out of the water by more than six feet leaving seaweed-covered rocks and marine animals exposed above tide level.

Sometimes raised beaches gradually drop down again over centuries, but the newly raised coastline of Kaikoura could be a permanent feature, according GNS Science, a New Zealand government-owned research institute.

Section of the seabed raised out of the water.

A photo (above) taken in March 2016 shows how the coastline looked before the earthquake struck. The photo below is of the coastline as it appears now.

Sources: NZ Herald / Science Alert

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