Largest earthquakes in or near New Zealand on record since 1900 - list, stats and map

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Updated: Apr 25, 2024 16:21 GMT - refresh

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Since 1900, New Zealand has had 66 quakes of magnitudes up to 8.2:

4 quakes above magnitude 8
62 quakes between magnitude 7 and 8

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Number of quakes per year

Latest: Mag. 8.1 Earthquake Kermadec Islands, New Zealand -

Strongest: Mag. 8.2 Earthquake Kermadec Islands region -

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Showing quakes since 1900magnitude 7.5 or higher, within up to 100 km (62 mi) distance (66 quakes):

Largest earthquakes in or near New Zealand on record since 1900 - list, stats and map
Date and Time	Mag Depth	Nearest Volcano	Location	Details
Mar 5, 2021 07:28 am (GMT +12)	8.1 29 km	75 km (47 mi) to the NE	Kermadec Islands, New Zealand 15 reports	Info
Mar 5, 2021 01:27 am (GMT +12)	7.1 90 km	92 km (57 mi) to the NE	South Pacific Ocean, 192 km northeast of Gisborne, Gisborne, New Zealand 1267 reports	Info
Thursday, June 18, 2020 GMT (1 quake)
Jun 19, 2020 12:49 am (GMT +12)	7.4 33 km	334 km (208 mi) to the NE	New Zealand 250 reports	Info
Saturday, June 15, 2019 GMT (1 quake)
Jun 16, 2019 10:55 am (GMT +12)	7.3 46 km	49 km (30 mi) to the NE	Kermadec Islands, New Zealand 10 reports	Info
Monday, September 10, 2018 GMT (1 quake)
Sep 10, 2018 04:18 pm (GMT +12)	7.0 10 km	150 km (93 mi) to the NE	Kermadec Islands Region 2 reports	Info
Sunday, November 13, 2016 GMT (1 quake)
Nov 14, 2016 12:02 am (Auckland)	7.9 10 km		17 km east of Hanmer Springs, Canterbury, New Zealand 71 reports	Info
Thursday, September 1, 2016 GMT (1 quake)
Sep 2, 2016 04:37 am (GMT +12)	7.0 26 km	66 km (41 mi) to the NE	South Pacific Ocean, 64 km northeast of East Island, Gisborne, New Zealand 24 reports	Info
Friday, October 21, 2011 GMT (1 quake)
Oct 22, 2011 05:57 am (GMT +12)	7.4 33 km	159 km (99 mi) to the NE	Kermadec Islands region	Info
Wednesday, July 6, 2011 GMT (1 quake)
Jul 7, 2011 07:03 am (GMT +12)	7.6 17 km	149 km (93 mi) to the NE	Kermadec Islands region	Info
Friday, September 3, 2010 GMT (1 quake)
Sep 4, 2010 04:35 am (Auckland)	7.0 12 km		South Island of New Zealand	Info
Wednesday, July 15, 2009 GMT (1 quake)
Jul 15, 2009 09:22 pm (Auckland)	7.8 12 km	3 km (1.9 mi) to the SW	Tasman Sea, 21 km west of Cooper Island, New Zealand	Info

About these data

Estimated combined seismic energy released: 7.9 x 10¹⁷ joules (2.2 x 10⁵ gigawatt hours, equivalent to 1.9 x 10⁸ tons of TNT or 11792 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy

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Largest Quakes in or near New Zealand

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