Along with more knowledge about clustering, forecasting is also being helped by research into slow slip events, with that information being brought into the forecast models. GEONET The area inside the yellow box indicates the area of the earthquake forecasts released by Geonet. They do not yet know the full influence of slow slip, but now the most recent round of slow slip earthquakes is mostly over, their influence on the current forecasts is less. They assessed all the earthquake models, plus newly-developed models of how slow slip events impact the probability of future earthquakes. KATE PEDLEY/CANTERBURY UNIVERSITY The 7.8 magnitude Kaikōura Earthquake in November 2016 was a reminder of the violent forces building underground.

Source: Stuff December 18, 2017 22:57 UTC