Tauranga

Earthquakes near Tauranga, 1927–2026

From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 4 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Tauranga, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. The strongest was a magnitude 7.3 on February 13, 1931 (40 km E of Waiouru, New Zealand).

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Tauranga in the last 30 days.

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 6.5 on March 2, 1987 (6 km WNW of Edgecumbe, New Zealand), for which NOAA records one death. 3 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 5 of the events here, 26 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.4 on July 18, 2004 (North Island: Rotorua, Tauranga). NOAA lists one tsunami that began within 100 km of Tauranga, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 2.32 m, on May 22, 1960. NOAA lists 3 significant eruptions of 2 volcanoes within 100 km of Tauranga. The largest was Whakaari/White Island on December 9, 2019, at 2 on the volcanic explosivity index. It killed 22 people by NOAA’s count.

The events

  • December 9, 2019Eruption · VEI 2Whakaari/White Island · 22 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • July 18, 2004Earthquake · M 5.4North Island: Rotorua, Tauranga · one death (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • March 2, 1987Earthquake · M 6.56 km WNW of Edgecumbe, New Zealand · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • May 22, 1960Tsunami · 2.32 m hereSouthern ChileNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • February 13, 1931Earthquake · M 7.340 km E of Waiouru, New ZealandUSGS · NOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Tauranga 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

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