This list of natural disasters in New Zealand documents notable natural disasters and epidemics that have occurred in New Zealand since 1843. Of these natural disasters, the 1918 flu pandemic resulted in the highest loss of life with 8,600 deaths in New Zealand. [1] [2]
Colour pink scheme used in this table: |
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Earthquake |
Flooding |
Health Crisis |
Landslide |
Tsunami |
Volcanic eruption |
Weather |
Wildfires |
Year | Type | Deaths | Place | Region | Cost | Note | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1843 | Earthquake | 2 | Wanganui | Manawatu | M 7+ | 1843 Wanganui earthquake | |
1846 | Landslide | 60 | Lake Taupo | Waikato | Worst landslide in New Zealand History | [3] | |
1848 | Earthquake | 3 | Blenheim | Marlborough | M 7.5 | 1848 Marlborough earthquake | |
1855 | Earthquake | 9 | Wairarapa | Wellington | M 8.3 | 1855 Wairarapa earthquake | |
1855 | Tsunami | Cook Strait | Cook Strait | Maximum wave heights of 11m | [4] | ||
1858 | Flooding | 14 | Hutt Valley | Wellington | |||
1863 | Flooding | 200 | Central Otago | Otago | Floods and snowstorm | ||
1868 | Weather | 40 | New Zealand | Nationwide | Cyclone | Great storm of 1868 | |
1868 | Flooding | 9 | Totara, Waiareka Valley | Otago | |||
1868 | Tsunami | 1 | East coast of New Zealand | Chile | Maximum wave heights of 7m | [5] | |
1877 | Tsunami | East coast of New Zealand | Chile | Maximum wave heights of 3m | [6] | ||
1878 | Flooding | 3 | Clutha Valley | Otago | Great Clutha flood of 1878 [7] | ||
1885 | Earthquake | 3 | Paekakariki | Wellington | M 5-6 | [8] | |
1886 | Volcanic | 153 | Mount Tarawera | Bay of Plenty | Death toll ranges 108–153 depending on source | 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera | |
1888 | Earthquake | 1 | Hanmer Springs | Canterbury | M 7+ | 1888 North Canterbury earthquake | |
1897 | Flooding | 12 | Clive | Hawke's Bay | |||
1901 | Earthquake | 1 | Cheviot | Canterbury | M 6.8 | 1901 Cheviot earthquake | |
1904 | Landslide | 8 | Brunner | West Coast | [9] | ||
1904 | Earthquake | 1 | Cape Turnagain | Manawatu | M 7 | 1904 Cape Turnagain earthquake | |
1913 | Earthquake | 1 | Masterton | Wellington | M 5.6 | [8] | |
1914 | Landslide | 1 | Ngatapa | Gisborne | [10] | ||
1914 | Volcanic | 10 | White Island | Bay of Plenty | Lahar | ||
1914 | Earthquake | 1 | East Cape | Gisborne | M 6.6 | 1914 East Cape earthquakes | |
1918 | Wildfire | 3 | Raetihi | Manawatu | Raetihi Forest Fire | ||
1918 | Health Crisis | 8,600 | Nationwide | New Zealand | Influenza virus struck between October and December 1918 | [11] | |
1923 | Landslide | 17 | Taumaranui | Manawatu | Landslide hit Auckland to Wellington express train near Taumaranui, killing 17 and injuring 30 | [3] | |
1923 | Landslide | 2 | Little River | Canterbury | [12] | ||
1924 | Flooding | 1 | Kaiwaka | Hawke's Bay | [13] | ||
1924 | Landslide | 1 | Napier | Hawke's Bay | Slip happened on Shakespeare Rd. | [13] | |
1924 | Tsunami | Chatham Islands | Unknown | Maximum wave heights of 6m | [14] | ||
1929 | Weather | 1 | East coast of New Zealand | Bay of Plenty, Otago | Cyclone, caused violent wind in northeastern North Island and flooding throughout Dunedin and coastal Otago | 1929 New Zealand cyclone | |
1929 | Earthquake | 17 | Murchison | Tasman | M 7.8 | 1929 Murchison earthquake | |
1931 | Earthquake | 256 | Napier/Hastings | Hawke's Bay | Official death toll of 256, reported death toll of 258. M 7.8 | 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake | |
1934 | Earthquake | 2 | Pahiatua | Manawatu | M 7.2 | 1934 Pahiatua earthquake | |
1936 | Weather | 12 | New Zealand | North Island | Cyclone, caused widespread flooding and destruction | 1936 New Zealand cyclone | |
1938 | Flooding | 21 | Kopuawhara | Hawke's Bay | Kopuawhara flash flood of 1938 | ||
1942 | Earthquake | 1 | Wairarapa | Wellington | M 6.9 | 1942 Wairarapa earthquakes | |
1942 | Weather | 1 | Kaitaia | Northland | Tornado | [15] | |
1947 | Tsunami | East Coast | Gisborne | Maximum wave heights of 10m. 25 March | [16] | ||
1947 | Tsunami | East Coast | Gisborne | Maximum wave heights of 5m. 17 May | [16] | ||
1948 | Weather | 3 | Hamilton | Waikato | Tornado | [17] | |
1953 | Volcanic | 151 | Tangiwai | Manawatu | Lahar destroyed rail bridge, sending train into river | Tangiwai disaster | |
1953 | Weather | 1 | Auckland | Auckland | Tornado | [18] | |
1960 | Tsunami | East coast of New Zealand | Chile | Maximum wave heights of 4.5m | [19] | ||
1967 | Weather | 1 | North Island | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Dinah | |
1968 | Earthquake | 3 | Inangahua | West Coast | M 7.1 | 1968 Inangahua earthquake | |
1968 | Weather | 59 [lower-alpha 1] [20] | North Island | North Island | Cyclone | Cyclone Giselle | |
1973 | Weather | 1 | Opunake | Taranaki | Tornado | [21] | |
1975 | Weather | 2 | Nationwide | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Alison | |
1976 | Weather | 1 | Hutt Valley, Wellington | Wellington | Heavy rain caused slips and flooding | 1976 Wellington storm | |
1978 | Flooding | Clutha Valley | Otago | 1978 Otago flood | |||
1979 | Landslide | Dunedin | Otago | 69 houses destroyed | 1979 Abbotsford landslip | ||
1980 | Weather | 1 | Auckland | Auckland | Tornado | [18] | |
1982 | Weather | 2 | Northern North Island | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Bernie | |
1984 | Flooding | Invercargill | Southland | $100,000,000+ [22] | |||
1985 | Landslide | 3 | Te Aroha | Waikato | [23] | ||
1987 | Earthquake | 1 | Edgecumbe | Bay of Plenty | $300,000,000 [24] | M 6.3 | 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake |
1988 | Weather | 7 | East Coast of North Island | North Island | $229,000,000 | Cyclone | Cyclone Bola |
1989 | Weather | Northland | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Delilah | ||
1990 | Weather | Taranaki | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Hilda | ||
1991 | Weather | 1 | Auckland | Auckland | Tornado | [25] | |
1994 | Weather | Southwestern South Island | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Rewa | ||
1994 | Weather | Hastings | Hawke's Bay | $10,800,000 [26] | Hailstorm | ||
1996 | Weather | Eastern North Island | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Beti | ||
1996 | Weather | 2 | Northern North Island | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Fergus | |
1997 | Weather | 3 | Nationwide | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Drena | |
1997 | Weather | North Island | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Gavin | ||
1998 | Weather | 1 | Nationwide | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Yali | |
2001 | Weather | 4 | Northern North Island | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Sose | |
2003 | Tsunami | Fiordland | Southland | Maximum wave heights of 5m | [27] | ||
2004 | Weather | 3 | Nationwide | New Zealand | $148,000,000 [26] | A storm brought high winds, heavy rain, flooding, and slips to much of the North Island as well as the upper South Island. Manawatū-Whanganui and Wellington were particularly hard hit. Two people drowned in the sea in Wellington and one person is presumed to have drowned in the Marlborough Sounds. | [28] |
2004 | Weather | 2 | Northeastern North Island | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Ivy | |
2004 | Landslide | 2 | Owira | Bay of Plenty | [29] | ||
2004 | Earthquake | 1 | Lake Rotomā | Bay of Plenty | M 5.4 | [30] [31] | |
2004 | Weather | 2 | Waitara | Taranaki | Tornado | [17] | |
2006 | Volcanic | 1 | Raoul Island | Kermedec Islands | 2006 Raoul Island eruption | ||
2007 | Earthquake | 1 | Gisborne | Gisborne | $50,000,000 [32] | M 6.7 | 2007 Gisborne earthquake |
2008 | Weather | North Island | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Funa | ||
2009 | Weather | 1 | Nationwide | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Innis | |
2009 | Health Crisis | 19 | Nationwide | New Zealand | Swine flu infects 3,175 people and results in 19 deaths | 2009 flu pandemic in New Zealand | |
2010 | Earthquake | 2 | Darfield | Canterbury | $4,000,000,000 | M 7.1 | 2010 Canterbury earthquake |
2011 | Weather | Northern North Island | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Wilma | ||
2011 | Earthquake | 185 | Christchurch | Canterbury | $42,000,000,000 | M 6.3 | 2011 Christchurch earthquake |
2011 | Weather | 1 | Auckland | Auckland | $6,300,000 | Tornado | [17] |
2011 | Earthquake | 1 | Christchurch | Canterbury | M 6.4 | June 2011 Christchurch earthquake | |
2011 | Weather | Nationwide | New Zealand | Snowstorm | 2011 New Zealand snowstorms | ||
2011 | Earthquake | 1 | Christchurch | Canterbury | M 5.9 December aftershock | [8] | |
2012 | Weather | 3 | Auckland | Auckland | Tornado | [33] | |
2012 | Weather | 1 | North Island | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Evan | |
2013 | Weather | Nationwide | New Zealand | 2013 New Zealand winter storm | |||
2013 | Landslide | 2 | Haast Pass / Tioripatea | West Coast | [34] | ||
2014 | Weather | Nationwide | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Ita | ||
2014 | Flooding | 2 | Northland | North Island | |||
2014 | Earthquake | 1 | East Cape | Gisborne | M 6.5 | [8] | |
2015 | Flooding | 1 | Petone | Wellington | [35] | ||
2015 | Flooding | South Dunedin | Otago | $138,000,000 [36] | On 3 June 2015, a low weather system brought heavy rain to the coastal Otago Region. South Dunedin experienced heavy flooding, which was exacerbated by the area's high water table and the breakdown of the Portobello pumping station. 1,200 homes and businesses were damaged by flood damage. [36] [37] | 2015 Otago flood | |
2016 | Health Crisis | 3 | Havelock North | Hawke's Bay | $21,000,000 [38] | Campylobacter infects 5,200 people and results in 3 deaths | [39] |
2016 | Earthquake | 2 | Kaikōura | Canterbury | $2,270,000,000 [26] | M 7.8 | 2016 Kaikōura earthquake |
2017 | Wildfire | 1 | Port Hills | Canterbury | $18,300,000 [26] | 2017 Port Hills fires | |
2017 | Flooding | Edgecumbe | Bay of Plenty | $91,460,000 [26] | Cyclone | Cyclone Debbie | |
2017 | Weather | North Island | New Zealand | $17,200,000 [26] | Cyclone | Cyclone Cook | |
2018 | Weather | Northwestern South Island | New Zealand | $45,900,000 [26] | Cyclone | Cyclone Fehi | |
2018 | Weather | Northwestern South Island | New Zealand | $35,600,000 [26] | Cyclone | Cyclone Gita | |
2019 | Wildfire | Pigeon Valley | Tasman | Pigeon Valley Fire | |||
2019 | Health Crisis | 2 | Nationwide | New Zealand | 2019 New Zealand measles outbreak | ||
2019 | Weather | Timaru | Canterbury | $170,000,000 | Hailstorm | [40] | |
2019 | Volcanic | 22 | Whakaari / White Island | Bay of Plenty | 2019 Whakaari / White Island eruption | ||
2020 | Flooding | 3 | Southern South Island | Southland and Otago | $29,640,000 [26] | [41] [42] | |
2020 | Health Crisis | 2,502 | Nationwide | New Zealand | COVID-19 infects over a million people leading to nationwide lockdowns in late March 2020 and August 2021 and an Auckland-wide lockdown in August 2020. [43] [44] | COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand | |
2020 | Wildfire | Lake Ōhau | Canterbury | $35,180,000 [26] | Lake Ōhau Fire | ||
2020 | Flooding | Napier | Hawke's Bay | $87,720,000 [26] | [45] | ||
2021 | Flooding | Canterbury Plains | Canterbury | $46,440,000 [26] | [46] | ||
2021 | Weather | 1 | Auckland | Auckland | $32,000,000 [26] | Tornado | [47] |
2021 | Flooding | Northern South Island | Buller District, Tasman District, and Marlborough Region | $140,470,000 [48] | Torrential rain in mid-July 2021 led to flooding in the West Coast's Buller District, Tasman District, and Marlborough regions of the South Island, prompting evacuations of residents and state of emergency. [49] [50] [51] The extreme rain event of 15–18 July brought over 690 mm (27 in) of rain to parts of the West Coast Region in under 72 hours. [52] | 2021 central New Zealand floods | |
2021 | Flooding | 1 | Auckland | Auckland | $62,290,000 [26] | Heavy rainfall caused extensive flooding and slips in western Auckland. One person drowned in floodwaters in the suburb of Henderson. | [53] |
2022 | Tsunami | Northern North Island | Tonga | $5,930,000 [26] | The tsunami from the eruption of Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai caused a 1.33 metre tsunami at Great Barrier Island, while millions dollars of damage was done at a marina in Tutukaka. | [54] [55] | |
2022 | Weather | North Island | New Zealand | $54,840,000 [26] | Cyclone | Cyclone Dovi | |
2022 | Weather | 5 | North Island | New Zealand | $119,640,000 [26] | A low-pressure system that migrated across the North Island from the Tasman Sea to off East Cape caused severe thunderstorms and extensive flooding in the Auckland and Gisborne regions. 5 people were killed when their boat capsized off North Cape in the stormy weather. | [56] [57] [58] |
2022 | Weather | 1 | North Island | New Zealand | $11,050,000 [26] | A line of thunderstorms accompanied by gale-force winds passed across the North Island. A tornado in Levin caused extensive damage, while in Cambridge a woman was killed after a tree fell on her. | [59] |
2022 | Flooding | Nationwide | New Zealand | $67,840,000 [26] | Heavy persistent rain in mid-August led to widespread evacuations, flooding, and landslides in Nelson, Tasman, Marlborough, West Coast, Northland, Taranaki, and Wellington. [60] [61] [62] | 2022 New Zealand floods | |
2023 | Weather | 1 [lower-alpha 2] | North Island | New Zealand | Cyclone | Cyclone Hale | |
2023 | Flooding | 4 | Northern North Island | New Zealand | At least $1,300,000,000 | From 27 January to 2 February, catastrophic floods occurred in the Auckland, Northland and Waikato regions which resulted in states of emergency, with Auckland being the worst affected. NIWA reported a record breaking 160.6 millimetres (10 in) of rainfall across the city in a span of 3 hours. [63] | 2023 Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods |
2023 | Weather | 11 | North Island | New Zealand | Estimated $13,000,000,000 | From Sunday 12 February to Wednesday 15 February, Cyclone Gabrielle struck the North Island, resulting in significant damage and flooding, and a national state of emergency being declared, the third time in the nation's history. | Cyclone Gabrielle |
2023 | Weather | Auckland, Tasman, Kapiti and Taranaki | New Zealand | Between Monday 10 April and Tuesday 11 April, four significant tornadoes struck. There was one in Tasman District, one in East Auckland, one in Paraparaumu, and one in Waitara, resulting in over 60 homes being damaged and 10 homes yellow stickered. Several people were injured. [64] | [65] | ||
2023 | Flooding | 1 | Northern North Island and Northern South Island | New Zealand | On Tuesday 9 May, a state of emergency was declared in Auckland after torrential rains caused severe flooding. There were also impacts in Northland, Waikato, and Bay of Plenty. A school student was swept away in floodwaters on a field trip to the Abbey Caves. Additionally a few days prior on Saturday May 6 parts of the upper South Island were evacuated due major flooding. [66] | [67] [68] [69] | |
2023 | Flooding | Gisborne | New Zealand | Heavy rains between the 22 and 23 June caused over 130 people evacuated and a state of emergency declared in Gisborne. | [70] | ||
2023 | Flooding | Southland Region and Otago | New Zealand | Heavy rain on 21 September caused flooding in several places across the Southland and Otago regions including Gore and Queenstown. 100 homes were evacuated in Queenstown and Tuatapere's water treatment plant was damaged. A state of emergency was declared in the Southland Region. [71] [72] | 2023 southern New Zealand floods | ||
2024 | Wildfire | Port Hills | Canterbury | A wildfire broke out on 14 February, seven years and one day since the 2017 Port Hills fires. A state of emergency was declared, with evacuations of residential properties. [73] | 2024 Port Hills fire | ||
2024 | Wildfire | Weka Pass | Canterbury | A wildfire broke out at 8pm on 18 February which caused evacuations of homes in Waipara. | [74] | ||
2024 | Flooding | Hastings and Wairoa | Gisborne District and Hawke's Bay | Torrential rain leads to flooding in the East Coast regions, resulting in evacuations and local states of emergency being declared in Hastings and Wairoa. [75] 400 properties were flooded in Wairoa, with Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell describing the flooding as "catastrophic." [76] | 2024 East Coast floods |
Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is the seat and largest town in the Queenstown-Lakes District.
Mount Smart Stadium, commercially known as Go Media Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the main home ground of the New Zealand Warriors of the National Rugby League and Auckland FC of the A-League Men, and occasionally hosts rugby union and international rugby league matches. Built within the quarried remnants of the Rarotonga / Mount Smart volcanic cone, it is located 10 kilometres south of the city centre, in the suburb of Penrose.
The Waipā River is in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. The headwaters are in the Rangitoto Range east of Te Kūiti. It flows north for 115 kilometres (71 mi), passing through Ōtorohanga and Pirongia, before flowing into the Waikato River at Ngāruawāhia. It is the Waikato's largest tributary. The Waipā's main tributary is the Puniu River.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research or NIWA, is a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand. Established in 1992, NIWA conducts research across a broad range of disciplines in the environmental sciences. It also maintains nationally and, in some cases, internationally important environmental monitoring networks, databases, and collections.
The Turakina River is a river of the southwestern North Island of New Zealand. It flows generally southwestward from its source south of Waiouru, roughly paralleling the larger Whangaehu River, and reaches the Tasman Sea 20 kilometres (12 mi) southeast of Whanganui.
The following lists events that happened during 2007 in New Zealand.
The Moehau Range is the northernmost range on the Coromandel Peninsula, extending from the settlement of Colville, New Zealand northwards to the tip of the peninsula. Mount Moehau is the highest point of the range, at 892m above sea level.
The climate of New Zealand is varied due to the country's diverse landscape. Most regions of New Zealand belong to the temperate zone with a maritime climate characterised by four distinct seasons. Winters are relatively mild and summers comparatively cool. The main contributing factors are the Pacific Ocean and latitude, although the mountain ranges can cause significant climate variations in locations barely tens of kilometres from each other. Conditions vary from extremely wet on the West Coast of the South Island to almost semi-arid in Central Otago and subtropical in Northland.
Christopher John Hipkins is a New Zealand politician who has served as leader of the New Zealand Labour Party since January 2023 and leader of the Opposition since November 2023. He was the 41st prime minister of New Zealand from January to November 2023, previously serving as the minister for the public service and minister for education from 2017 to 2023, and the minister for health and the COVID-19 response from 2020 to 2022. He has been the member of Parliament (MP) for Remutaka since the 2008 general election.
Michael James Salinger is a New Zealand climate change researcher and teacher who has worked for a range of universities in his home country and around the world. He was a senior climate scientist for a Crown Research Institute, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), and President of the Commission for Agricultural Meteorology of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). He has received several awards and other honours for his work with climate change and is involved in researching and monitoring past and current climate trends. Within his area of specialist scientific knowledge, Salinger has co-authored and edited a range of reports, articles and books. He was involved in an employment dispute and elements of his theory and practice were at the centre of a case against NIWA.
The Hāpuku River begins in the Seaward Kaikōura Range of New Zealand and flows south-east to enter the South Pacific at Hapuka, between Clarence and Kaikōura. The name comes from the Māori word hāpuku or hāpuka, a deep-water marine fish. Its main tributary is the Puhi Puhi River.
Siouxsie Wiles is a British microbiologist and science communicator. Her specialist areas are infectious diseases and bioluminescence. She is based in New Zealand.
The 2016 Kaikōura earthquake was a Mw 7.8 earthquake in the South Island of New Zealand that occurred two minutes after midnight on 14 November 2016 NZDT. Ruptures occurred on multiple faults and the earthquake has been described as the "most complex earthquake ever studied". It has been subsequently modelled as having a megathrust component set off by an adjacent rupture on the Humps Fault. It was also the second largest earthquake since European settlement.
The following lists events that happened during 2021 in New Zealand.
The 2021 Kermadec Islands earthquakes were a series of earthquakes with magnitudes of 8.1 and 7.4 that occurred at 19:28:31 UTC on 4 March 2021. The epicentres were located southeast of Raoul Island in the Kermadec Islands, part of the New Zealand outlying islands. The main magnitude 8.1 earthquake was preceded by a magnitude 7.4 foreshock and followed by a magnitude 6.1 aftershock. A separate, unrelated magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurred off the coast of the North Island of New Zealand, approximately 900 km to the south, several hours before the main quakes. More than a dozen aftershocks exceeded magnitude 6.
The 2021 central New Zealand floods were the result of a torrential rainstorm that affected central New Zealand between 17 and 18 July 2021. This storm led to flooding in the West Coast's Buller District, the Tasman District, and the Marlborough Region in the South Island, prompting the evacuations of residents and the declaration of a state of emergency. Flooding also impacted the Wellington region.
Beginning on Friday, 27 January 2023, regions across the upper North Island of New Zealand experienced widespread catastrophic floods caused by heavy rainfall, with Auckland being the most significantly affected as the Auckland Anniversary holiday weekend began.