The 7.8 Kaikoura quake was one of four earthquakes greater than Magnitude 7 in the last 7 years, and one of only five tremors of that magnitude or larger ever recorded in New Zealand.

A similar period of increased activity was seen between 1929 and 1942 when New Zealand experienced a third of all earthquakes of magnitude 7 or larger recorded in the last 160 years.

So are we in the midst of a period of heightened risk?

GNS Principal Scientist, Dr Kelvin Berryman talks to Kathryn Ryan about what it means to be living in a period of heightened seismicity & lessons we’re learning from Kaikoura.