Earthquakes near Christchurch, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 8 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Christchurch, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 4 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.8 on November 13, 2016 (53 km NNE of Amberley, New Zealand).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Christchurch in the last 30 days.
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 6.1 on February 21, 2011 (6 km SE of Christchurch, New Zealand), for which NOAA records 185 deaths. 9 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 3 of the events here, 188 in all. NOAA lists 3 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Christchurch, and 2 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 5 m, on May 22, 1960.
The events
- November 13, 2016Earthquake · M 7.853 km NNE of Amberley, New Zealand · 2 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- February 21, 2011Earthquake · M 6.16 km SE of Christchurch, New Zealand · 185 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 22, 1960Tsunami · 5 m hereSouthern ChileNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- June 16, 1929Earthquake · M 7.368 km S of Wakefield, New Zealand · 17 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
Good to know
- An event counts for Christchurch when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
- USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
- NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
- Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
- A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
- Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history