A public meeting to discuss the Alpine Fault and its projected impact on South Island communities in a magnitude eight earthquake is coming to Methven on 29 March.

All residents are invited to attend the free AF8 Roadshow where information will be shared on what scientific investigations have discovered about the fault and what hazards a large earthquake would likely have for communities close by.

While it is impossible to predict exactly when an earthquake will strike, research on the Alpine Fault suggests a large earthquake is likely to happen in the lifetime of many people alive today.

Attendees will get to hear from Professor Tom Wilson from the University of Canterbury, who will explain that the fault has a history of generating regular, large earthquakes.

Tom is a Professor of Disaster Risk & Resilience in the School of Earth & Environment, and Co-Lead of the Rural Disaster Resilience programme of Resilience to Natures Challenge.

He is one of the science leads of AF8.

The AF8 Roadshow is visiting communities all across the South Island including Invercargill, Dunedin, Waimate, Timaru, Hanmer and Blenheim.

Methven will be the only community in Mid Canterbury to be visited and will get to hear hazard impact information relevant to them and the region.

When: Monday 29 March
Where: Mt Hutt Memorial Hall, Methven
Time: 7pm (scheduled to run for three hours)

Please note: the AF8 Roadshow Public Science Talks will only go ahead at Alert Level 1. At Alert Level 2-4, presentations will be moved online and links will be available via the AF8 website and shared to the Facebook event page.

The roadshow is made possible thanks to the six South Island Civil Defence Emergency Management Groups, EQC – Earthquake Commission, Resilience to Nature’s Challenges, QuakeCoRE and GNS Science, and university partners: University of Otago, University of Canterbury and the University of Auckland.