Earthquakes in New Zealand, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 147 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off New Zealand. 27 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.8, twice: on July 15, 2009 (97 km WSW of Te Anau, New Zealand) and on November 13, 2016 (53 km NNE of Amberley, New Zealand).
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. 48 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 13 of the events here, 647 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 lists 25 tsunamis that began in or off New Zealand, and 5 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. NOAA lists 4 significant eruptions of 3 volcanoes in or off New Zealand. The largest was Whakaari/White Island on December 9, 2019, at 2 on the volcanic explosivity index. The deadliest was Ruapehu on December 24, 1953, which killed 151 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- March 25, 2025Earthquake · M 6.7170 km WSW of Riverton, New ZealandUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- December 9, 2019Eruption · VEI 2Whakaari/White Island · 22 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- 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
- May 25, 1981Earthquake · M 7.6off the west coast of the South Island of New ZealandUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- December 24, 1953EruptionRuapehu · 151 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 17, 1947Earthquake · M 7.682 km ENE of Gisborne, New ZealandUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- March 25, 1947Earthquake · M 7.746 km E of Gisborne, 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
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