Sunday

Townsend Fault 5.2

On 29th April 2011 UTC (Apr 30th 2011 at 7:08 am NZST) a Moderate quake hit the eastern foothills of the Southern Alps north of Oxford, Canterbury.
The quake was felt throughout the central Canterbury region from Hanmer Springs in the north to Timaru in the south, as well as on the West Coast from Westport down to Okarito, and several reports from as far afield as Dunedin and Nelson.
The highest Intensity was MM6, Slightly Damaging, in Fernside, Oxford, Riccarton and Springfield.

After the recent large Canterbury earthquakes of Sept 3rd 2010 at Darfield (7.1) and Feb 22nd 2011 (6.3) one would tend to think this quake at Lees Valley is just another aftershock, but this was in fact a quake on another Faultline altogether, the Townsend Fault.
There is a possibility that the Darfield 7.1 and the Lyttelton 6.3 put stress on the Townsend Fault and caused this failure on April 29th.

Here I have gone back and checked the data for the fault and surrounding area, north and south of Oxford Hill to see what the history of the Fault is.
The Search area is Lat -43.135245 to Lat -43.236639 and Long 171.956520 to 172.171753
 search area
 search area

The fault to the south of Oxford Hill is called the Coopers Creek Fault.
Both Faults join up to the Glen Tui Fault to the east, the Lees Valley Fault to the northeast and the Porters Pass Fault to the west.

In the 5 days since the 5.178ML quake there have been 8 aftershocks in the immediate area of Black Hill and the Townsend River.
 aftershocks of the April 29th 5.2 quake

MAG, DATE/TIME UTC, LAT, LONG, DEPTH, REF
5.178, 2011/4/29 19:8:4, -43.17515, 172.00777, 9, 3505099
2.248, 2011/5/1 23:14:28, -43.18329, 172.01654, 8, 3506146
2.531, 2011/5/2 15:32:7, -43.18764, 172.0106, 5, 3506474
2.262, 2011/5/2 16:7:22, -43.16945, 172.01801, 9, 3506483
2.669, 2011/5/3 0:1:1, -43.16917, 172.01764, 8, 3506628
2.923, 2011/5/3 14:56:2, -43.17444, 172.01604, 6, 3506971
3.266, 3507307, -43.16549, 172.02834, 2011/5/4 7:37:27, 7
3.157, 3507311, -43.21566, 172.02118, 2011/5/4 7:44:15, 13
2.542, 3507358, -43.18343, 171.98975, 2011/5/4 10:1:42, 9


The map below shows the earthquakes in the Townsend/Coopers Creek Faults area in the period since the 2010 Sept 3rd 7.1 Darfield earthquake, on the new Greendale Fault to the south.

 events in the T/CC Faults area after the Darfield 7.1 quake
MAG, DATE/TIME UTC, LAT, LONG, DEPTH, REF
2.738, 2010/9/5 14:20:18, -43.23072, 172.0629, 5, 3367239
2.989, 2010/9/13 6:7:21, -43.216, 172.08458, 9, 3371451
2.431, 2010/9/13 16:23:37, -43.22586, 172.02829, 11, 3371668
3.165, 2010/9/14 2:13:19, -43.20278, 172.08305, 10, 3371867
2.803, 2010/9/22 10:3:14, -43.22447, 172.02209, 7, 3376440
3.57, 2010/9/24 11:33:2, -43.16637, 172.10735, 5, 3377634
3.362, 2010/9/24 12:28:10, -43.17266, 172.11551, 5, 3377655
2.882, 2010/9/24 14:38:4, -43.17824, 172.10938, 5, 3377713
2.499, 2010/9/24 22:19:44, -43.17453, 172.11096, 5, 3377903
2.906, 2010/9/28 14:55:25, -43.17492, 172.11691, 5, 3379823
2.709, 2010/9/29 1:0:44, -43.17228, 172.10509, 5, 3380030
2.799, 2010/9/29 15:54:24, -43.16797, 172.01976, 11, 3380345
2.99, 2010/10/3 7:1:50, -43.18231, 172.09843, 5, 3382124
2.291, 2010/10/6 12:24:35, -43.16845, 172.0442, 5, 3383717
2.194, 2010/10/7 20:13:37, -43.1913, 172.05879, 5, 3384384
3.697, 2010/10/13 8:47:55, -43.16586, 172.04312, 5, 3388485
3.347, 2010/10/14 0:44:20, -43.22258, 172.10086, 7, 3388797
2.479, 2010/10/14 7:18:45, -43.16426, 172.07144, 5, 3389045
2.868, 2010/10/15 5:28:39, -43.16764, 172.03044, 5, 3389506
2.861, 2010/10/15 6:21:38, -43.21048, 172.14262, 5, 3389523
2.747, 2010/10/22 22:12:5, -43.18782, 172.0975, 5, 3394034
2.682, 2010/10/22 22:14:50, -43.18253, 172.08772, 5, 3394035
3.089, 2010/10/23 2:40:43, -43.2113, 172.10234, 5, 3394126
2.528, 2010/10/23 2:58:31, -43.22918, 172.09027, 6, 3394131
2.463, 2010/10/23 15:53:35, -43.17168, 172.06923, 5, 3394382
3.376, 2010/10/25 0:6:52, -43.1951, 172.12842, 5, 3395024
3.212, 2010/10/25 21:2:19, -43.22815, 172.01637, 5, 3395430
2.658, 2010/10/26 14:48:51, -43.1583, 172.04286, 6, 3395815
2.402, 2010/10/27 1:39:1, -43.16282, 172.07275, 5, 3396054
4.599, 2010/11/6 13:52:4, -43.21131, 172.06297, 9, 3403219
3.147, 2010/11/6 14:6:38, -43.22608, 172.09723, 7, 3403223
2.011, 2010/11/6 14:33:26, -43.22401, 172.08292, 5, 3403230
3.539, 2010/11/6 15:53:8, -43.22257, 172.08574, 5, 3403256
2.452, 2010/11/6 16:21:17, -43.21866, 172.09846, 5, 3403264
2.635, 2010/11/6 22:8:39, -43.22303, 172.09802, 5, 3403382
2.977, 2010/11/7 13:39:7, -43.22884, 172.09732, 7, 3403698
2.392, 2010/11/7 14:54:16, -43.23214, 172.1059, 5, 3403726
2.38, 2010/11/8 0:50:23, -43.22004, 172.08321, 5, 3403941
2.578, 2010/11/8 17:17:51, -43.22981, 172.09015, 6, 3404285
3.757, 2010/11/11 20:44:26, -43.20081, 172.11057, 8, 3405904
2.37, 2010/11/12 15:16:10, -43.22641, 172.08768, 6, 3406281
4.054, 2010/11/14 9:0:39, -43.22129, 172.09645, 8, 3407140
3.361, 2010/11/15 12:8:16, -43.22358, 172.04555, 7, 3407710
3.037, 2010/11/15 17:31:57, -43.22254, 172.03578, 8, 3435310
3.189, 2010/11/16 3:53:30, -43.22866, 172.02277, 5, 3408031
2.593, 2010/11/17 18:3:41, -43.21441, 172.11958, 6, 3408821
2.722, 2010/11/28 7:44:15, -43.23583, 172.03226, 7, 3414009
2.322, 2010/11/28 12:11:47, -43.22403, 172.03717, 5, 3414100
2.901, 2010/12/1 0:2:17, -43.21903, 172.08864, 5, 3421817
3.356, 2010/12/4 10:15:38, -43.22297, 172.0955, 9, 3416928
2.504, 2011/1/4 10:37:28, -43.23396, 172.09608, 5, 3441567
2.483, 2011/1/11 9:0:2, -43.22306, 172.09029, 5, 3446049
2.382, 2011/1/23 8:26:17, -43.19037, 172.05774, 5, 3454087
2.466, 2011/1/31 15:2:4, -43.17585, 172.08244, 5, 3458090
4.448, 2011/2/3 18:32:51, -43.15667, 172.01534, 8, 3459803
3.428, 2011/2/3 18:38:36, -43.18559, 172.02718, 10, 3459804
2.853, 2011/2/3 18:54:31, -43.18016, 172.00259, 9, 3459810
2.475, 2011/2/3 19:0:41, -43.19071, 172.00058, 12, 3459812
2.787, 2011/2/3 21:53:30, -43.18026, 172.01791, 11, 3459872
3.209, 2011/2/4 23:52:7, -43.17881, 172.02379, 9, 3460334
2.989, 2011/2/4 23:54:6, -43.17234, 172.03212, 9, 3460335
2.619, 2011/2/7 12:48:46, -43.19123, 172.01559, 12, 3461525
2.809, 2011/2/13 14:27:41, -43.16507, 171.96602, 5, 3464455
2.776, 2011/2/20 4:1:30, -43.18829, 172.01469, 10, 3468010
3.143, 2011/2/25 23:18:57, -43.1801, 172.00948, 9, 3470570
2.233, 2011/2/27 12:12:23, -43.23382, 172.01828, 7, 3504321
3.452, 2011/3/6 21:55:7, -43.20822, 172.0773, 5, 3474836
2.768, 2011/3/20 6:26:30, -43.18726, 172.01807, 8, 3481433
2.365, 2011/3/21 18:34:43, -43.18466, 172.02437, 10, 3482215
2.429, 2011/3/26 9:19:9, -43.21618, 172.11671, 5, 3485826
2.612, 2011/3/30 9:53:29, -43.20152, 172.00395, 5, 3489399
2.252, 2011/4/7 7:21:33, -43.21838, 172.06087, 8, 3493607
3.632, 2011/4/13 17:39:9, -43.23319, 172.08875, 10, 3496544
2.993, 2011/4/14 0:12:29, -43.20912, 172.08264, 5, 3496695
2.997, 2011/4/14 1:37:16, -43.21268, 172.0891, 7, 3497144
3.023, 2011/4/20 3:33:3, -43.21449, 172.07645, 8, 3499916
2.414, 2011/4/20 4:23:43, -43.17382, 172.05865, 8, 3499934
3.079, 2011/4/20 5:56:58, -43.21709, 172.0818, 7, 3499964
3.069, 2011/4/25 22:33:32, -43.19896, 172.04066, 9, 3502786


The map below shows the earthquakes in the Townsend/Coopers Creek Faults area in the period 12 months prior to the 2010 Sept 3rd 7.1 Darfield earthquake
 events in the T/CC Faults area 12 months prior to the Darfield 7.1

MAG, DATE/TIME UTC, LAT, LONG, DEPTH, REF
3.247, 2009/9/13 2:38:4, -43.18122, 172.05569, 12, 3153282
2.263, 2009/9/16 16:0:15, -43.19446, 171.99078, 12, 3158426
2.091, 2009/9/18 12:17:19, -43.18097, 172.03781, 10, 3159720
3.428, 2009/9/24 1:17:19, -43.17733, 172.05661, 9, 3158471
2.281, 2009/10/20 21:23:52, -43.18549, 171.99147, 12, 3171521
2.1, 2009/11/19 21:2:14, -43.17599, 172.06415, 9, 3186317
1.92, 2009/12/18 23:59:27, -43.19021, 172.13449, 5, 3216922
2.181, 2009/12/27 13:20:7, -43.15974, 172.00905, 12, 3214793
2.211, 2010/1/29 18:18:26, -43.17459, 172.06215, 5, 3249166
2.331, 2010/6/5 20:53:12, -43.20218, 171.96835, 11, 3318565
2.511, 2010/6/23 18:34:55, -43.18106, 171.98242, 2, 3328246
2.644, 2010/7/31 20:48:3, -43.18393, 172.02652, 10, 3348491
2.736, 2010/8/3 6:14:46, -43.21399, 172.07654, 10, 3349729
3.261, 2010/8/27 0:5:3, -43.2097, 171.99074, 5, 3362156
2.669, 2010/8/27 0:44:57, -43.21064, 172.01686, 5, 3362167
2.672, 2010/8/27 11:3:49, -43.20196, 171.98798, 8, 3362380


The map below shows the earthquakes in the Townsend/Coopers Creek Faults area in the period 5 years prior to Sept 3rd 2009
 events in the T/CC Faults area 5 years prior to Sept 3rd 2009

MAG, DATE/TIME UTC, LAT, LONG, DEPTH, REF
2.82, 2005/9/28 13:28:10, -43.16864, 172.08533, 12, 2465781
2.693, 2005/11/13 7:51:39, -43.18329, 172.05333, 12, 2486081
2.689, 2005/11/24 15:12:35, -43.17738, 172.05453, 12, 2491152
2.351, 2006/2/25 17:10:28, -43.19648, 172.12296, 12, 2530743
2.312, 2006/3/4 11:55:50, -43.22969, 172.14781, 5, 2533920
2.273, 2006/5/6 14:21:20, -43.13886, 172.1167, 33, 2564371
2.661, 2006/5/28 0:15:7, -43.1748, 172.17122, 5, 2811965
3.417, 2007/7/31 7:7:35, -43.21668, 172.0426, 5, 2773651
2.235, 2008/1/3 7:48:37, -43.14214, 171.99658, 5, 2845659
2.131, 2008/4/22 23:56:41, -43.17408, 172.05386, 12, 2898422
2.604, 2008/12/7 6:53:12, -43.2196, 172.10567, 12, 3015037
4.085, 2009/3/4 14:41:24, -43.21406, 172.15628, 5, 3054325
3.334, 2009/3/4 14:44:28, -43.21132, 172.16747, 5, 3054326


In the 10 years prior to that, 1995/09/03 to 2005/09/02, the following events occured in the Townsend/Coopers Creek Faults area
 events in the T/CC Faults area 1995/09/03 to 2005/09/02

MAG, DATE/TIME UTC, LAT, LONG, DEPTH, REF
3.378, 1995/10/4 17:15:24, -43.20707, 172.14612, 12, 853948
2.493, 1995/10/7 13:30:14, -43.21355, 172.13167, 12, 853975
2.143, 1995/11/24 6:46:1, -43.17758, 172.13255, 5, 773218
2.209, 1995/11/25 10:46:26, -43.23515, 172.16579, 5, 793024
2.011, 1995/11/26 15:31:11, -43.15581, 172.05511, 5, 780700
3.573, 1996/4/10 14:31:22, -43.21243, 171.98094, 12, 963188
2.543, 1997/1/14 6:32:34, -43.18771, 172.15669, 5, 1089600
3.129, 1997/1/16 8:38:46, -43.18417, 172.03381, 5, 1073467
3.363, 1997/3/18 11:47:7, -43.19715, 172.14145, 5, 1100374
3.182, 1997/5/29 0:9:56, -43.22231, 172.01317, 12, 1136106
2.879, 1999/3/11 18:57:13, -43.19964, 172.05095, 5, 1372962
3.538, 1999/4/29 16:52:35, -43.20359, 172.05246, 12, 1388172
2.358, 1999/6/23 13:27:49, -43.17206, 172.02351, 5, 1408670
2.843, 2000/3/2 15:41:32, -43.1734, 172.15393, 12, 1493900
2.974, 2000/6/11 2:48:32, -43.22817, 171.96614, 12, 1532251
2.522, 2001/2/6 9:24:15, -43.21655, 172.09561, 12, 1689940
1.966, 2001/6/10 22:8:39, -43.16286, 172.04732, 12, 1743882
2.582, 2001/7/1 7:41:3, -43.15845, 172.12242, 12, 1847179
3.033, 2001/12/2 4:46:8, -43.18885, 172.05948, 5, 1824034
2.592, 2002/5/29 5:8:41, -43.13663, 172.02322, 12, 1883254
2.505, 2002/7/9 3:12:11, -43.18947, 172.056, 12, 1896555
2.598, 2002/7/21 5:20:19, -43.15427, 172.12914, 27, 2024840
2.726, 2003/2/26 23:39:33, -43.17404, 172.15523, 12, 2031439
2.925, 2003/7/8 10:11:56, -43.17515, 172.16434, 12, 2084566
2.444, 2003/7/8 14:36:3, -43.17424, 172.07713, 29, 2084630
2.786, 2004/3/3 4:41:40, -43.22197, 172.12158, 29, 2194083
2.635, 2004/7/16 1:32:37, -43.17069, 172.16678, 5, 2265416
2.562, 2004/8/8 13:28:39, -43.17676, 172.06905, 5, 2277314
3.864, 2005/2/16 21:14:14, -43.17516, 172.05302, 11, 2365912
2.799, 2005/3/29 5:50:59, -43.2324, 172.10924, 12, 2383345
3.12, 2005/6/28 7:30:7, -43.2248, 172.09126, 12, 2424244
2.26, 2005/8/28 6:33:19, -43.18928, 172.14999, 33, 2452410


In the search back to 1895 (100 years prior to the last period) the data starts on August 14th 1971.
Map shows events 1971/08/14 to 1995/09/02
 events in the T/CC Faults area 1971/08/14 to 2005/09/02

MAG, DATE/TIME UTC, LAT, LONG, DEPTH, REF
3.2, 1971/8/14 0:15:52, -43.21, 172.13, 12, 1553788
3.571, 1976/4/9 12:54:10, -43.2, 172.11, 12, 1557373
4.1, 1984/7/7 18:33:44, -43.16, 171.98, 12, 1565468
4.93, 1984/8/6 16:2:58, -43.22, 172.14, 12, 1565524
3.527, 1984/8/6 17:53:50, -43.22, 172.08, 12, 1565525
3.482, 1984/8/6 18:43:43, -43.16, 172.14, 12, 1565526
4.1, 1984/8/6 19:2:31, -43.19, 172.10001, 12, 1565527
5.238, 1986/7/11 23:3:32, -43.23, 172.14, 12, 1568161
3.829, 1987/8/16 7:10:39, -43.23017, 172.13235, 12, 62166
3.343, 1987/9/20 12:24:17, -43.15731, 171.99342, 5, 76242
2.642, 1990/5/11 23:50:49, -43.1784, 172.08354, 8, 125506
2.795, 1990/7/7 4:36:3, -43.18344, 172.01627, 5, 140268
4.177, 1990/8/22 17:7:9, -43.16786, 172.16096, 12, 150831
3.034, 1990/8/22 17:9:42, -43.18057, 172.16678, 12, 153388
2.221, 1990/8/22 17:13:18, -43.19494, 172.11368, 5, 152686
2.498, 1990/11/2 9:22:3, -43.1907, 172.13512, 5, 171854
3.704, 1991/3/21 3:43:17, -43.23249, 172.0955, 14, 213650
3.399, 1991/9/18 1:23:55, -43.22541, 172.0018, 8, 259645
2.954, 1991/11/9 14:22:13, -43.16406, 172.0155, 9, 274200
2.828, 1991/12/21 1:15:29, -43.23181, 172.02495, 16, 287679
2.683, 1992/6/4 3:32:28, -43.18288, 172.16849, 33, 339303
2.906, 1992/10/22 16:51:17, -43.17161, 172.05397, 12, 378478
3.858, 1992/11/1 11:58:41, -43.20755, 172.14522, 14, 379163
2.716, 1992/11/20 15:45:39, -43.20456, 172.16902, 12, 386954
2.559, 1992/12/24 1:48:55, -43.18224, 172.06508, 5, 396488
2.915, 1993/8/28 10:32:10, -43.20797, 172.14987, 12, 480521
2.342, 1993/10/31 14:51:33, -43.1908, 172.0943, 5, 503869
2.421, 1993/11/27 8:24:37, -43.20002, 172.0788, 5, 519179
2.284, 1994/2/21 2:16:35, -43.21251, 172.03729, 5, 566871
2.57, 1994/4/8 12:17:43, -43.2257, 172.03708, 12, 587016
3.033, 1994/5/11 21:39:34, -43.1965, 172.01161, 12, 599244
2.524, 1995/4/13 6:14:56, -43.17247, 172.16785, 12, 786520