Clark, K.J.Nissen, E.K.Howarth, J.D.Hamling, I.J.Mountjoy, J.J.Ries, W.F.Jones, K.Goldstien, S.Cochran, U.A.Villamor, P.Hreinsdóttir, S.Litchfield, N.J.Mueller, C.Berryman, K.R.Strong, D.T.2018-02-262018-02-2620172017Clark, K.J., Nissen, E.K., Howarth, J.D., Hamling, I.J., Mountjoy, J.J., Ries, W.F., … Strong, D.T. (2017). Highly variable coastal deformation in the 2016 MW7.8 Kaikōura earthquake reflects rupture complexity along a transpressional plate boundary. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 474(September), 334-344. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.06.048http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.06.048http://hdl.handle.net/1828/9096Coseismic coastal deformation is often used to understand slip on offshore faults in large earthquakes but in the 2016 MW7.8 Kaikōura earthquake multiple faults ruptured across and sub-parallel to the coastline. Along ∼110 km of coastline, a rich dataset of coastal deformation comprising airborne lidar differencing, field surveying and satellite geodesy reveals highly variable vertical displacements, ranging from −2.5 to 6.5 m. These inform a refined slip model for the Kaikōura earthquake which incorporates changes to the slip on offshore faults and inclusion of an offshore reverse crustal fault that accounts for broad, low-amplitude uplift centered on Kaikōura Peninsula. The exceptional detail afforded by differential lidar and the high variability in coastal deformation combine to form the highest-resolution and most complex record of coseismic coastal deformation yet documented. This should prompt reassessment of coastal paleoseismic records that may not have considered multi-fault ruptures and high complexity deformation fields.encoastal deformationmulti-fault ruptureKaikōura earthquakelidar differencingplate boundaryArticleSchool of Earth and Ocean Sciences