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Such measurements also assist with understanding how crustal stresses relate to strain observed geodetically and geologically (e.g., Brodsky et al., 2017 T. In-situ stress measurements can provide important insights into stress states at global and localized scales, the geomechanical state of earthquake-hosting faults, shear traction on faults, and processes of stress accumulation and release on plate boundary faults. In the southern HSM, borehole-derived S Hmax orientations are inconsistent with S Hmax orientations derived from focal mechanism solutions in the subducting plate, implying some degree of mechanical decoupling between the shallow hanging wall and subducting slab. The borehole S Hmax orientations suggest that contemporary stress orientations may be caused in part by along-strike variation in deformation style imposed by clockwise rotation of forearc. This rotation of S Hmax orientation correlates spatially with along-strike variations in subduction interface slip behavior, characterized by creep and/or shallow episodic slip events in the central HSM and interseismic locking in the south. Our results reveal a 065°/245° S Hmax orientation within the central HSM (Hawke's Bay region) which rotates to 112°/292° and 140°/320° in the southern HSM. In this study, we analyze borehole image and oriented four-arm caliper logs acquired from 13 boreholes along the HSM to present a comprehensive stress orientation data set from borehole data within the shallow (<3 km) upper plate of the subduction thrust. Alternatively, these variations in subduction thrust slip behavior may drive heterogeneity in the stress state in space and time. The HSM subduction interface is characterized by varying slip behavior along strike, which may be a manifestation of combined variations in both stress state and the mechanical properties of faults and their hanging walls. Knowledge of the contemporary in-situ stress orientations in the Earth's crust can improve our understanding of active crustal deformation, geodynamic processes, and seismicity in tectonically active regions such as the Hikurangi Subduction Margin (HSM), New Zealand.