There are at least 100 faults in this region of New Zealand that is known.

The November 13, 2016 M 7.8 earthquake (click here) in North Canterbury, New Zealand, occurred as the result of shallow oblique-reverse faulting on or near the boundary between the Pacific and Australia plates in South Island, New Zealand. At the location of this earthquake, the Pacific plate moves to the west-southwest with respect to the Australia plate at a rate of approximately 40 mm/yr. The epicenter of the earthquake is about 30-45 km south-southeast of the main surface expression of the plate boundary in the region—the Hope Fault, part of the Marlborough Fault system that connects a subduction zone (the Hikurangi Trough) to the primary plate boundary in the South Island—the Alpine Fault....

The Pacific and Australian plates are enormous and very heavy. Movement along faults this size is not at all a matter of control. These plates will continue to move and cause danger to life in New Zealand.

If these quakes were a matter of a far smaller fault the rebuilding would never be in question, but, that is not the issue as it presents itself.

Kiwis are wonderful people. They deserve and need peace of mind for themseles and their children. To expect their love of their country and their homes without question is foolishness. The people of this region have experienced danger for years now and is approaching a decade. That is half a generation. What are the children learning about their world that will cause them adverse outcomes to their lives.

New Zealand is an absolutely beautiful country, but, that needs to be balanced with the tectonic activity effecting the people. New Zeland will continue to be a much admired country with some of the beautiful places on Earth, but, there needs to be a far more sober approach to communities and their future in such violently unstable land.

The first major earthquake in this active region caused no deaths even with such high rickter numbers. That speaks to the expertise of the New Zealand people and thier awareness of their land. The city did exceptionally well in that first quake, but, the region has rattled apart. The New Zealanders need to apply reason to their expertise and protect their children and their future.