Jesse Kearse
2025: Dr Jesse Kearse of Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington will use a recent boom in global seismic data to understand how earthquakes start, spread, and stop
Dr Jesse Kearse will use his New Zealand Mana Tūāpapa Future Leader Fellowship to leverage supercomputing infrastructure to create sophisticated physics-based models of earthquake ruptures. Our understanding of how earthquakes begin, propagate, and stop remains a major scientific challenge. A lack of data recorded close to the earthquake rupture has resulted in a significant "blind spot" in global hazard models.
Near-fault seismic recordings from around the world have doubled since 2023. Dr Kearse will use this data to answer key questions, such as how the on-fault slip translates to near-fault ground motion, and what processes govern rupture termination.
Ultimately, this work will provide engineers and planners with more accurate estimates of the severe shaking expected near a fault, leading to better-informed building codes and hazard planning. In the long term, these advancements will help strengthen the resilience of communities in Aotearoa New Zealand and other seismic regions worldwide.
Dr Kearse (foreground) and colleagues walking alongside the surface rupture of the Kekerengu Fault during scientific reconnaissance following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. Credit: Julian Thompson.