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Earthquakes - Ngā Rū Whenua
Many earthquakes happen each year in and around New Zealand, but only a small number of these are felt.
Image: Geological & Nuclear Sciences - Lincoln University.
What is an earthquake?
An earthquake is the shaking of the Earth’s surface, caused by a sudden release of energy from the ground.
Most earthquakes start with the release of energy on faults. Faults are breaks in the ground that go deep within the Earth’s crust. Pressure builds up along faults because tectonic plates constantly scrape over, under or past each other.
Image: GNS Science.
Earthquakes in New Zealand
New Zealand is on the boundary of the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates, so earthquakes happen here every day.
Historic trends and records dating from the 1840s show that, on average, New Zealand can expect:
- magnitude 6 earthquakes - several every year
- a magnitude 7 earthquake - one every 10 years
- a magnitude 8 earthquake - one every century.
Everywhere in New Zealand is at risk of earthquakes.
Most of our earthquakes are too weak, too deep, or too far off our shores to be noticed. But, a strong, damaging, earthquake can happen at any time, and can be followed by aftershocks that continue for a long time.
Every year GNS Science locates over 15,000 earthquakes in New Zealand. About 100 – 150 of these quakes are large enough to be felt. The others we only know about because they are recorded by seismographs.
Earthquake hazards
In an earthquake, ground can shake, land can move and change shape, and liquefaction can happen. Earthquakes can also trigger other hazards such as tsunami, landslides, floods and fires.
All of these hazards can cause damage to people, buildings and infrastructure, including roads, pipes in the ground, and electricity and phone networks.
Get ready for earthquakes
Make and practise your emergency plan with your family, and make sure you and your family each have a grab bag and emergency supplies.
Practise Drop, Cover and Hold at least twice a year. You can do this when the clocks change and by taking part in New Zealand ShakeOut, our national earthquake drill and tsunami hīkoi.
Drop, Cover and Hold is the right action to take in an earthquake. It stops you being knocked over, makes you a smaller target for falling and flying objects and protects your head, neck and vital organs.
- DROP down on your hands and knees. This protects you from falling, but lets you move if you need to.
- COVER your head and neck (or your entire body) under a sturdy table or desk (if it is within a few steps of you). If there is no shelter nearby, cover your head and neck with your arms and hands.
- HOLD on to your shelter (or your position to protect your head and neck) until the shaking stops. If the shaking shifts your shelter around, move with it.
Do not run outside or you risk getting hit by falling hazards and glass.
If an earthquake is longer than a minute or strong enough to make it difficult to stand, move quickly to the nearest high ground, out of all tsunami evacuation zones, or as far inland as you can as there may be risk of a tsunami. Remember: Long or Strong, Get Gone.
Most people are hurt during earthquakes from collapsing walls and roofs, and falling glass and objects. Have a look around your home, classroom and other places you visit and point out objects that could fall and hurt someone in an earthquake. Tell an adult and ask them to either move it to a safe place or fix and fasten it.
Ask your parent or caregiver about securing heavy objects both inside and outside your home.
- Ask if the hot water cylinder or gas appliances are braced to wall framing. They can cause a fire hazard if they fall over.
- Ask your family to secure any bookcases, china cabinets and other tall furniture to wall framing so they don’t fall down.
- Ask an adult to hang heavy items, such as pictures and mirrors, away from beds, couches and anywhere people sleep or sit.
- Look for large ornaments that may fall and ask an adult to secure them.
- If there are heavy objects in cupboards or cabinets, ask an adult to move them to shelves near the floor so they don’t fall from high up.
- Ask a parent or caregiver if your house has secure foundations.
- If your house has a brick chimney, tell your family about getting it removed. Brick chimneys can fall down and hurt people outside of your house, or fall through the roof and hurt people inside.
- Make sure the places where your pets like to hide are safe for when an earthquake happens.
After an earthquake, check yourself for injuries. If you need first aid tell an adult. Listen to instructions from an adult – parent or caregiver, teacher, or another adult who is looking after you.
Ready for a quiz? Try the Earthquakes interactive activity.
After a large earthquake, there will most likely be aftershocks, which are smaller earthquakes that happen after the main shake. Each time you feel an aftershock, Drop, Cover and Hold.
Help your family stay informed by listening to the radio or telling an adult to follow your local Civil Defence Emergency Management group online.
Ask your parent or caregiver if it is okay to check on your neighbours.
Audio Māori keywords:
Check out the GeoNet recent earthquakes webpage http://www.geonet.org.nz/ to see if there have been any earthquakes today and where they were centred.