Earthquakes in New Zealand through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 157 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off New Zealand. 28 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was a magnitude 8, twice: in 1826 (Fjordland) and on January 23, 1855 (Wellington,Waiouru,Wanganui,Otaki).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 4 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 5.3 on October 15 (43 km SSE of Otorohanga, New Zealand).
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.4 on February 2, 1931 (47 km WSW of Hastings, New Zealand), for which NOAA records 261 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 68 here, back to 1461 BCE. NOAA records deaths in 24 of the events here, 888 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.7 on March 25, 2025 (170 km WSW of Riverton, New Zealand). NOAA’s record here begins in 1461 BCE with an eruption (Taupo). It grows thinner going back: 48 of the 68 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 57 tsunamis that began in or off New Zealand, and 8 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 15 m, on February 2, 1931. The deadliest, on February 26, 1905, killed one person here by NOAA’s runup records. NOAA lists 12 significant eruptions of 4 volcanoes in or off New Zealand. The largest was Taupo in 1461 BCE, at 6 on the volcanic explosivity index. The deadliest was Okataina on June 10, 1886, which killed 153 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- March 25, 2025Earthquake · M 6.7170 km WSW of Riverton, New ZealandUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- 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
- July 15, 2009Earthquake · M 7.897 km WSW of Te Anau, New ZealandUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- February 2, 1931Earthquake · M 7.447 km WSW of Hastings, New Zealand · 261 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- February 2, 1931Tsunami · 15 m hereN. New ZealandNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- February 26, 1905TsunamiN. New Zealand · one death here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- June 10, 1886Eruption · VEI 5Okataina · 153 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 23, 1855Earthquake · M 8.0 (est.)Wellington,Waiouru,Wanganui,OtakiNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- October 15, 1848Earthquake · M 7.9 (est.)N.NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- 1826Earthquake · M 8.0 (est.)FjordlandNOAA NCEI
- 1461 BCEEruption · VEI 6TaupoNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
Good to know
- An event counts for New Zealand when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where New Zealand is the nearest country.
- 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.
- The map frames the box around New Zealand, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- 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