Rocked and ruptured : geological faults in New Zealand / Jefley J. Aitken.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [86]-87).

Them rocks, they just a-keep right on a-moving...And, to cut a geographically eternal story short, them earthquakes keep right on a-happening. New Zealand has more than 150 geological faults that are known to be active; many of them twitch repeatedly and around 200 earthquakes a year are big enough to be felt. Rocked and Ruptured investigates where New Zealand's main faults lie and explores the consequences of this country's location astride the boundary between two tectonic plates. Tectonic forces create the faults and their associated earthquakes and account for New Zealand's volcanoes, geothermal activity and mountain chains. This book gives comprehensive yet easy-to-read explanations about how and why faults occur, their impact on the environment when they shake and shudder, how they are recorded and what past events can tell us about future movements of the earth.