Hazards

NIWA researchers study geological, weather and coastal hazards, including the impact of climate change on some of these.

  • 2018 - OBS Recovery

    Voyage
    The RV Tangaroa is assisting in New Zealand’s largest ever deployment of seafloor earthquake recording instruments in a bid to learn more about the earthquake behaviour of the tectonic plates beneath the east coast of the North Island.
  • Kaikōura earthquake generated huge submarine sediment shift

    Media release
    The 2016 Kaikōura Earthquake has shown that more than 100 million dumptrucks of mud and sand flow through the Kaikōura Canyon every 140 years, scientists say.
  • View of Mount Hikurangi from offshore. Looking West. photo taken from R.V. Tangaroa in May. 2001

    2017 - Hikurangi subduction zone

    The Tangaroa assisted in New Zealand’s largest ever deployment of seafloor earthquake recording instruments in a bid to learn more about the earthquake behaviour of the tectonic plates beneath the east coast of the North Island.
  • NIWA co-leads international expedition to study New Zealand’s largest earthquake fault

    Media release
    An ambitious scientific expedition involving 30 scientists from around the world leaves Perth next week bound for the East Coast of the North Island.
  • DART buoy

    2017 - NOAA tsunami warning station

    A tsunami reporting station situated in the Pacific Ocean that is currently off line is to be upgraded in a joint operation involving New Zealand and United States government agencies.
  • Juvenile sea urchins sampled from part of Kaikōura Canyon.

    2017 - Kaikōura coastal zone

    NIWA vessel RV Tangaroa visted Kaikōura in September 2017 to investigate the impacts of the earthquake in the coastal zone, which includes effects on rocky reef habitats and communities, pāua fishery and Hector’s dolphins.
  • Joining the flooded dots

    Feature story
    The term “joined-up government” was coined in the late 1990s to describe the coordination modern governments need to deal with large problems.
  • Flood focus

    Feature story
    Autumn and winter rain caused damaging floods and slips across New Zealand, yet again. Susan Pepperell investigates the nation's evolving skill in avoiding and coping with water.
  • A wave of hazard research

    Feature story
    It is well known that earthquakes can trigger tsunami but they can also be caused by landslides – with devastating effects.
  • Q&A: going to sea for fresh water

    Feature story
    Since the end of June, a barge has been stationed just off Wellington’s Miramar Peninsula drilling into the seabed to find an alternative water source for the city.
  • On-call forecasting helps fight fires

    Feature story
    For the past year, NIWA’s meteorologists have been on call to provide real-time, comprehensive information about weather patterns that may accelerate a fire.
  • Kaikōura Canyon shows early signs of ecosystem recovery

    Media release
    NIWA scientists have found signs of recovery in the Kaikōura Canyon seabed, 10 months after powerful submarine landslides triggered by the November earthquake wiped out organisms living in and on the seabed.