The Kaikoura earthquake shook the ground more than most other known quakes, new research has shown.

Land along the Kekerengu fault, one of many believed to be responsible for the 7.8-magnitude tremor, moved sideways by up to 12 metres, and the rupture zone was more than 300 metres wide in some surrounding areas.

Victoria University researcher Jesse Kearse has described the movement as “unusual” for a rupture that was 83 kilometres long.

The research was funded by New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission.

The commission’s Research Strategy and Science Investment Manager Richard Smith says the study has “shown us that we can’t use overseas prediction models for what’s actually going to happen on the ground surface, and it gives us valuable data to put into our own New Zealand National Seismic Hazard Model”.