Off the North Island’s east coast lies New Zealand’s most active and fastest-moving fault. The Hikurangi subduction zone, where the Australian tectonic plate is clawing its way over the top of the Pacific plate, has the potential to rupture in a mega-thrust earthquake of magnitude 8 or more and set off a massive tsunami.
It stretches from the East Cape to Marlborough, and regularly rumbles in earthquakes. But
