EveryQuake

Earthquakes in Wellington

1,407 earthquakes catalogued in and around Wellington between 1904 and 2026. Recorded measurements; not a forecast.

Last updated 4 August 2026 · merged from 5 catalogues
4.5
Latest earthquake · depth 55.6 km
31.07.2026 11:09 UTC · from centre 85 km
1,407
recorded earthquakes
M7.7
largest
1904–2026
record span
3.94
mean magnitude
582
epicentre inside the border

By year

Stacked by magnitude; one column per year.

0681361904: 1 (M5+)190419141917: 1 (M5+)1919: 1 (M5+)19241930: 1 (M5+)1931: 3 (M5+)1934: 1 (M5+)19341938: 1 (M5+)1942: 4 (M5+)19441951: 1 (M5+)19541956: 2 (M5+)1957: 2 (M4–5)1957: 1 (M5+)1961: 2 (M5+)1964: 6 (M4–5)19641965: 4 (M4–5)1965: 1 (M5+)1966: 2 (M4–5)1966: 1 (M5+)1967: 3 (M4–5)1968: 7 (M4–5)1968: 1 (M5+)1969: 11 (M4–5)1970: 14 (M4–5)1971: 6 (M4–5)1971: 2 (M5+)1972: 4 (M4–5)1972: 1 (M5+)1973: 4 (M4–5)1973: 4 (M5+)1974: 6 (M4–5)19741975: 5 (M4–5)1975: 2 (M5+)1976: 7 (M4–5)1976: 1 (M5+)1977: 3 (M4–5)1977: 1 (M5+)1980: 1 (M4–5)1980: 2 (M5+)1981: 2 (M5+)1982: 2 (M4–5)1982: 1 (M5+)1983: 4 (M4–5)1984: 6 (M4–5)1984: 1 (M5+)19841985: 6 (M4–5)1986: 5 (M4–5)1986: 1 (M5+)1987: 5 (M4–5)1988: 7 (M4–5)1988: 2 (M5+)1989: 6 (M4–5)1989: 1 (M5+)1990: 9 (M4–5)1990: 7 (M5+)1991: 2 (M4–5)1991: 1 (M5+)1992: 11 (M4–5)1992: 2 (M5+)1993: 4 (M3–4)1993: 12 (M4–5)1994: 1 (M3–4)1994: 8 (M4–5)19941995: 9 (M4–5)1995: 2 (M5+)1996: 1 (M3–4)1996: 11 (M4–5)1997: 6 (M<3)1997: 7 (M3–4)1997: 10 (M4–5)1998: 4 (M<3)1998: 13 (M3–4)1998: 7 (M4–5)1999: 10 (M<3)1999: 13 (M3–4)1999: 19 (M4–5)1999: 1 (M5+)2000: 24 (M<3)2000: 36 (M3–4)2000: 12 (M4–5)2000: 1 (M5+)2001: 92 (M<3)2001: 25 (M3–4)2001: 15 (M4–5)2001: 1 (M5+)2002: 5 (M3–4)2002: 12 (M4–5)2002: 1 (M5+)2003: 10 (M3–4)2003: 9 (M4–5)2003: 3 (M5+)2004: 1 (M<3)2004: 9 (M3–4)2004: 16 (M4–5)20042005: 13 (M3–4)2005: 21 (M4–5)2005: 4 (M5+)2006: 10 (M3–4)2006: 16 (M4–5)2007: 6 (M3–4)2007: 8 (M4–5)2008: 1 (M3–4)2008: 12 (M4–5)2009: 4 (M3–4)2009: 15 (M4–5)2010: 3 (M3–4)2010: 8 (M4–5)2010: 1 (M5+)2011: 3 (M3–4)2011: 8 (M4–5)2011: 1 (M5+)2012: 2 (M3–4)2012: 12 (M4–5)2013: 4 (M3–4)2013: 115 (M4–5)2013: 17 (M5+)2014: 6 (M3–4)2014: 32 (M4–5)2014: 2 (M5+)20142015: 1 (M3–4)2015: 18 (M4–5)2015: 1 (M5+)2016: 2 (M3–4)2016: 91 (M4–5)2016: 18 (M5+)2017: 22 (M4–5)2017: 1 (M5+)2018: 9 (M4–5)2019: 2 (M3–4)2019: 3 (M4–5)2020: 10 (M3–4)2020: 22 (M4–5)2020: 2 (M5+)2021: 26 (M3–4)2021: 4 (M4–5)2022: 36 (M3–4)2022: 9 (M4–5)2022: 1 (M5+)2023: 1 (M<3)2023: 41 (M3–4)2023: 5 (M4–5)2023: 3 (M5+)2024: 48 (M3–4)2024: 5 (M4–5)2024: 3 (M5+)20242025: 37 (M3–4)2025: 13 (M4–5)2026: 29 (M3–4)2026: 9 (M4–5)
M<3M3–4M4–5M5+

Read this chart carefully. Rising columns do not mean earthquakes are becoming more frequent. The monitoring network improved over time: the smallest detectable earthquake in Türkiye was about M5.0 in 1966 and is M1.5 today. Earlier years look quiet because small events were not heard, not because they did not happen.

Largest earthquakes

Inclusion rule: the radius widens with magnitude (15 km up to M4, 150 km at M7 and above). This is not a measure of felt shaking or intensity.

MagnitudeDateDepthDistance
7.702.02.1931 22:4635 km184 km
7.305.03.1934 11:4635 km77 km
7.313.02.1931 01:2745 km195 km
7.124.06.1942 11:1615 km33 km
6.908.08.1904 22:5030 km167 km
6.801.08.1942 12:3435 km49 km
6.705.08.1917 15:5015 km89 km
6.527.12.1961 23:4820 km33 km
6.516.08.2013 02:3113.8 km136 km
6.521.07.2013 05:0916.3 km111 km
6.522.04.1931 00:0215 km186 km
6.413.05.1990 04:2323.7 km111 km
6.312.09.1919 06:0615 km109 km
6.320.01.2014 02:5232.9 km63 km
6.312.02.1930 06:2115 km109 km

Latest earthquakes

MagnitudeDateDepthDistance
4.531.07.2026 11:0955.6 km85 km
3.021.07.2026 18:5820.3 km89 km
3.815.07.2026 11:5517.3 km39 km
3.115.07.2026 06:5811.2 km104 km
3.125.06.2026 14:0134.7 km99 km
4.502.06.2026 06:3868.5 km83 km
4.529.05.2026 22:5614.6 km114 km
3.322.05.2026 19:1524.1 km18 km
3.118.05.2026 16:4325.7 km49 km
3.912.05.2026 09:0224 km85 km
3.602.05.2026 15:1541 km52 km
3.130.04.2026 17:1116.8 km101 km
3.129.04.2026 18:1526.2 km82 km
3.227.04.2026 14:2421.9 km62 km
3.520.04.2026 12:0745.1 km58 km
4.113.04.2026 15:2668 km106 km
4.030.03.2026 01:338 km113 km
3.427.03.2026 13:5326.6 km42 km
3.526.03.2026 04:1124.3 km45 km
4.024.03.2026 00:366.6 km112 km
3.922.03.2026 01:3153.7 km7 km
3.320.03.2026 06:2320.5 km47 km
3.419.03.2026 14:4622.4 km44 km
4.116.02.2026 08:0478 km88 km
3.416.02.2026 00:2731.4 km29 km
3.512.02.2026 02:1936.4 km66 km
3.210.02.2026 10:207.8 km58 km
3.101.02.2026 22:3210.6 km59 km
3.029.01.2026 23:0816.9 km76 km
3.329.01.2026 07:42181.6 km35 km
4.027.01.2026 00:5346.2 km95 km
3.726.01.2026 01:2522.7 km73 km
3.021.01.2026 05:4042 km51 km
3.219.01.2026 12:0021.9 km50 km
3.115.01.2026 12:2645 km79 km
4.213.01.2026 10:2120.5 km88 km
3.112.01.2026 02:1319.4 km77 km
3.011.01.2026 07:3117.4 km102 km
3.231.12.2025 09:4526.2 km32 km
4.026.12.2025 03:0622.9 km79 km
4.625.12.2025 18:160 km67 km
4.215.12.2025 12:0538.5 km86 km
3.102.12.2025 19:3920.3 km66 km
3.101.12.2025 06:5628.9 km32 km
3.506.11.2025 09:2824.9 km81 km
4.506.11.2025 08:090 km83 km
3.415.10.2025 11:2314.7 km104 km
3.111.10.2025 06:5430.6 km40 km
3.009.10.2025 15:585.9 km27 km
3.521.09.2025 08:5838.7 km62 km
3.208.09.2025 10:3719.6 km37 km
3.007.09.2025 03:0930.1 km88 km
3.423.08.2025 04:2920.3 km21 km
3.221.08.2025 18:4735 km69 km
3.818.08.2025 00:3125.2 km89 km
4.103.08.2025 12:220 km45 km
3.403.08.2025 12:1519.6 km50 km
4.103.08.2025 12:1420.8 km51 km
3.114.07.2025 13:0423.8 km80 km
3.113.07.2025 03:3533.5 km93 km

Method and sources

What this page counts
An earthquake appears here when its epicentre is within a magnitude-dependent distance of this place's border: 15 km up to M4, 30 km to M5, 60 km to M6, 100 km to M7, and 150 km at M7 and above. The rule exists because a large earthquake concerns neighbouring provinces too — the 17 August 1999 epicentre was in the Gulf of İzmit, on no province's land at all.
Location precision
Epicentre uncertainty is typically 1–10 km, and larger for older records. That is why this site breaks data down to districts but not to neighbourhoods or villages — the data does not support that distinction.
Magnitude scales
The catalogues use more than twelve magnitude scales (Mw, ML, mb, Md…) and they are not equivalent. Values are shown on the scale the source reported; they are not converted.
Deduplication
The same earthquake is published by several catalogues. Records within 20 seconds and 100 km whose magnitudes differ by no more than 1.2 are treated as one event; the primary record is chosen by catalogue priority.
Updates
Recent earthquakes are fetched from four sources every five minutes. The historical archive is rebuilt infrequently.
Sources
USGS ComCat · ISC Bulletin · AFAD · Kandilli / KOERI · EMSC/CSEM
Reporting an error
If you spot a wrong record, write to us; we verify against the source and correct it.