It is a dextral (right lateral) strike-slip fault with a component of uplift to the northwest as expressed by the Rimutaka Range.

[3] The Wairarapa Fault continues south of Lake Wairarapa as the Wharekauhau thrust, which can be traced on the seabed in the Cook Strait for about 30 km (19 mi) with a possible further continuation on a fault strand lying to the northwest.

[5] Rupture along the Wairarapa Fault and Wharekauhau thrust was responsible for the 1855 Wairarapa earthquake that initiated at the southern tip of the faults, resulting in 20 m (66 ft) slip maximum, a local peak of 8 m (26 ft) vertical displacement and magnitude of at least Mw8.1.

[5][1] The uplifted beach ridges of Turakirae Head provide a proxy record of prehistoric earthquakes.

[2] It is known that the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake loaded the southern part of the fault,[2] but as already mentioned the mean recurrence interval is 1,230 ± 190 years.