Live broadcast with research vessel JOIDES Resolution

Napier will get the opportunity to learn more about New Zealand’s first offshore earthquake observatories that are now recording from inside our largest fault, the Hikurangi subduction zone next week.

East Coast LAB (Life at the Boundary) is hosting a live broadcast from the research vessel the JOIDES Resolution, which has recently installed the two observatories off the coast of New Zealand.

Members of the public will be given a virtual tour of the ship and have the opportunity to talk to some of the NZ scientists and crew on board, who have been involved in the installation.

Both instruments have been lowered to the seafloor and installed between 250m-450m beneath the seabed to record pressure and temperature changes in the slow slip earthquake zone for the next five years.

Slow slip events are where movement between the tectonic plates occurs slowly across the subduction zone, over a period of weeks to months, rather than suddenly in a large earthquake.

These observatories will give new insights into slow slip events at the subduction zone, and their relationship to larger magnitude earthquakes.

Kate Boersen of East Coast LAB says “We want to help ensure the communities are aware of the research that is going on and also understand their earthquake and tsunami risk.”

The live broadcast will be held on Tuesday 1^st May at 7pm at the LAB at the National Aquarium of New Zealand. The virtual tour of the ship will last for 40 minutes. 

Working at sea changes all the time and attendees are encouraged to check East Coast LAB’s Facebook page on the day to ensure the start time is confirmed.

Schools and other organisations and groups are able to sign up to have ship tour here.

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