Earthquakes in New Zealand

New Zealand sits astride the boundary between the Pacific and Australian plates, which runs the length of the country and changes character from north to south. Beneath the North Island the Pacific plate subducts along the Hikurangi margin, feeding the volcanoes of the Taupo zone, while the South Island is dominated by the Alpine Fault, a great transform structure capable of magnitude 8 ruptures roughly every few centuries. This tectonic setting makes seismic activity a constant fact of national life.

The 2011 Christchurch earthquake, a magnitude 6.3 shock on a previously unmapped fault, struck close to the surface directly beneath the city and killed 185 people, making it New Zealand's deadliest modern disaster. It was part of a longer sequence that began with the larger but less lethal magnitude 7.1 Darfield earthquake in September 2010. Read the full story of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake for how the disaster unfolded and how the city rebuilt.