Editing 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake (section)

==Tectonic setting==
New Zealand lies along the boundary between the [[Indo-Australian plate]] and [[Pacific plate]]s. In the [[South Island]] most of the relative displacement between these plates is taken up along a single dextral (right lateral) [[strike-slip fault]] with a major [[Dip-slip faults|reverse]] component, the [[Alpine Fault]]. In the [[North Island]] the displacement is mainly taken up along the [[Hikurangi Subduction Zone]], although the remaining dextral strike-slip component of the relative plate motion is accommodated by the [[North Island Fault System]] (NIFS).<ref>{{citation|title=Terminations of large strike-slip faults: An alternative model from New Zealand|journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications|volume=290|issue=1|pages= 387–415|year=2007|last1=Mouslopoulou|first1=V|last2=Nicol|first2=A|last3=Little|first3=T. A|last4=Walsh|first4=J. J|bibcode=2007GSLSP.290..387M|doi=10.1144/SP290.15|s2cid=129003001}}</ref>

The earthquake is thought to have occurred on one of the larger [[Thrust fault|thrust]] faults within the [[accretionary wedge]], at between ca. 5&nbsp;km depth and ca. 20–25&nbsp;km depth (which is the approximate depth of subducted Pacific plate at that location).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gns.cri.nz/gns/Home/News-and-Events/Media-Releases/NZ-s-quake-vulnerability|title=Bay quake highlights NZ's vulnerability|publisher=GNS Science|website=gns.cri.nz|access-date=23 June 2011|archive-date=18 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218235605/http://gns.cri.nz/gns/Home/News-and-Events/Media-Releases/NZ-s-quake-vulnerability|url-status=dead}}</ref>