#001 · 20 Oct 2026

Most of the 88 latest NZ earthquakes are small: median magnitude 2.0, the biggest 4.5

GeoNet's latest feed lists 88 earthquakes between 18 and 19 Oct 2026. The biggest, magnitude 4.5, was 485 km NE of Whakatane; the median was 2.0.

Latest NZ earthquakes, 18 to 19 Oct 2026 · magnitude

Hover or tap the chart for details.

4.5485 km NE of Whakatane

4.11005 km NE of Whakatane

2.0median of the 88 shown

What to notice

The biggest was magnitude 4.5, 485 km NE of Whakatane. Next came 4.1, 1005 km NE of Whakatane, and 4.1, 270 km SW of Snares Islands.

The smallest in the feed was magnitude 0.6, 25 km E of Stratford. Across all 88 earthquakes, the median was 2.0.

Magnitude measures an earthquake's size at its source, not how strongly it was felt. The list covers about 33 hours of GeoNet's latest feed; 7 events GeoNet marked as deleted were removed.

About the data

Source: GeoNet (Earth Sciences New Zealand) · data page
Licence: CC BY 3.0 NZ
What we changed: Removed 7 events GeoNet marked as deleted; times converted from UTC to New Zealand time; place names shortened.
Covers: 88 categories.
Built by: A script from the data below. Every number is computed by code and checked against the words; charts are drawn from the same table. The words were drafted by an AI assistant from those computed facts, then checked by a script and a person.

Download the data (CSV)

As posted on Instagram

Stem chart of 88 earthquakes over about 33 hours, 18 to 19 Oct 2026. Each is a vertical line topped by a dot at its magnitude. Most sit near the median of 2.0; one, in amber, reaches 4.5.

Latest NZ earthquakes from GeoNet: 88 recorded between 18 and 19 Oct 2026. The biggest was magnitude 4.5, 485 km NE of Whakatane. The median was 2.0 and the smallest 0.6. Magnitude shows size at the source, not how strongly it was felt. Tap the link in bio for the interactive chart and the data.

Source: GeoNet (Earth Sciences New Zealand), Latest NZ earthquakes, 18 to 19 Oct 2026, CC BY 3.0 NZ. Changes: Removed 7 events GeoNet marked as deleted; times converted from UTC to New Zealand time; place names shortened.

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