Scientists examine how Kaikōura earthquake affected seafloor

Scientists have spent years examining life beneath Kaikōura's coast to understand what happens when an earthquake shakes up the seafloor.

Back in 2020, samples were taken from an underwater canyon to analyse how life had changed in the deep sea following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake.

NIWA and Victoria University of Wellington PhD student Katie Bigham told 1News the seabed had experienced submarine landslides after the 7.8 tremor, similar to how landslides formed on land at the time.

"It turned into this massive event which whipped all the way through the canyon, and removed huge amounts of material and the corresponding animals," she said.

READ MORE: Scientists borrow Swedish submarine to investigate earthquake's impact on Kaikōura's sea floor

Undersea life in the canyon had been dislodged by 850 metric megatons of sediment - two to four times greater than all the sediment Aotearoa's rivers carry into the ocean every year.

Footage taken of the seafloor from before the quake and shortly afterwards painted a dire picture, as sea urchins and starfish that were once abundant had become invisible.

However, four years after the quake, the team went back to the canyon and were surprised by just how well it had recovered.

"At the moment we're seeing really high abundances of some of those same organisms... as well as a handful of organisms that we hadn't seen previously," Bigham said.

Great news for lovers of Kaikōura's coast, and even better news for creatures hiding beneath the deep blue.