Dr Joshu Mountjoy, a marine geologist at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), said the seabed lift was a first for modern New Zealand scientists, Joinfo.com reports with reference to Stuff.
“I’ve never seen it before during an earthquake and it’s the first time we’ve seen something like this,” Mountjoy said.
Image: Iain McGregor/Fairfax NZ:
Mountjoy said Monday’s earthquake was a “very complex fault rupture” which affected multiple regions and resulted in “significant landscape change”.
“It’s not just a single rupture on one fault plain, it’s ruptured multiple fault strands all along the coast there. So that uplift will reflect that behavior of different faults,” Mountjoy said.
Image: Trevor Burkhart:
In the photo below you can see as Trevor Burkhart, co-owner Burkhart Fisheries, removes paua (edible sea snails) from the elevated rocks at Ward Beach, in southern Marlborough.
Many people also posted incredible photographs of the devastating aftermath of this earthquake: