On Sunday Night a Significant M5.1 Earthquake struck in the Tasman Sea near Wellington (New Zealand).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on October 5th, 2024. Last updated October 18th, 2024.

In the early morning of Sunday October 6th, 2024, a significant Magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit in the Tasman Sea 28 kilometer from Wellington, New Zealand. Roughly 0.9 million people may have felt this earthquake.

Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Tasman Sea, right off the coast of New Zealand (10 mi offshore), 28 kilometer west of Wellington. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 46 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Oct 6, 2024 05:08 (Auckland Time) - Oct 5, 2024 16:08 Universal Time.
Location:	28 km west of Wellington, New Zealand. Coordinates 41°17'54"S 174°26'37"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.1 Detected by 15 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.08 .
Depth:	46 km (28 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	VI Strong On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Minimal impact predicted

Based on scientific estimates by the US Geographic Survey (USGS), the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level GREEN (low). They expect an 69% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 fatalities, and a 98% chance that the number of fatalities falls no higher than 10.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact, and a 96% chance that the economic impact of this earthquake falls no higher than 10 million USD.

Roughly 0.9 million people exposed to shaking

An estimated 0.9 million have been exposed to shaking (An MMI or Modified Mercalli Intensity level II or higher) as a result of this earthquake according scientific estimates published by the USGS.

The highest earthquake impact level for this earthquake is V, which corresponds with moderate shaking and very light damage. Roughly 266,300 people are expected to be exposed to this level. The majority of people (roughly 350 thousand) live in an area exposed to level III, where weak shaking and probably no damage is expected. All exposure to shaking was within the borders of New Zealand .

People	MMI Level	Shaking	Damage
430	I	Not noticable	None
34,750	II	Very weak	None
349,600	III	Weak	Probably none
280,500	IV	Light	Likely none
266,300	V	Moderate	Very light
0	VI	Strong	Light
0	VII	Very Strong	Moderate
0	VIII	Severe	Moderate to heavy
0	IX	Violent	Heavy
0	X	Extreme	Very heavy

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake may have been felt in New Zealand . Karori in Wellington, New Zealand is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 25 kilometer (16 mi) west of Karori. The intensity of shaking and damage in Karori is estimated to be around level V on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (moderate shaking, very light damage).

Major cities near this earthquake: Wellington is located 28 km to the east and experienced an intensity of V (moderate shaking, very light damage). Lower Hutt is located 41 km to the east-northeast and experienced an intensity of V (moderate shaking, very light damage). Christchurch is located 290 km to the south-southwest (intensity unknown, possibly low).

The table below provides an overview of all places in proximity of today's earthquake. Where available, the estimated intensity on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale in each place is included. Places where this information is omitted likely experienced little impact.

Overview of nearby places

Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.
Distance	Place	Intensity (MMI)
25 km (16 mi) E from epicenter	Karori Wellington, New Zealand.	V Moderate
28 km (17 mi) E from epicenter	Wellington Wellington, New Zealand.	V Moderate
39 km (24 mi) ENE from epicenter	Porirua Wellington, New Zealand.	IV Light
41 km (25 mi) ENE from epicenter	Lower Hutt Wellington, New Zealand.	V Moderate
42 km (26 mi) E from epicenter	Wainuiomata Wellington, New Zealand.	V Moderate
48 km (30 mi) WSW from epicenter	Blenheim Marlborough, New Zealand.	IV Light
54 km (34 mi) ENE from epicenter	Upper Hutt Wellington, New Zealand.	IV Light
64 km (40 mi) NE from epicenter	Paraparaumu Wellington, New Zealand.	IV Light
97 km (60 mi) W from epicenter	Nelson Nelson, New Zealand.	III Weak
101 km (63 mi) W from epicenter	Stoke Nelson, New Zealand.	III Weak
102 km (63 mi) NE from epicenter	Levin Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand.	IV Light
108 km (67 mi) ENE from epicenter	Masterton Wellington, New Zealand.	III Weak
138 km (86 mi) NE from epicenter	Linton Military Camp Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand.	III Weak
144 km (89 mi) NE from epicenter	Palmerston North Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand.	III Weak
160 km (99 mi) NNE from epicenter	Whanganui Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand.	III Weak
250 km (155 mi) N from epicenter	New Plymouth Taranaki, New Zealand.
270 km (168 mi) SW from epicenter	Rangiora Canterbury, New Zealand.
275 km (171 mi) NE from epicenter	Hastings Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.
283 km (176 mi) NE from epicenter	Taradale Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.
290 km (180 mi) SSW from epicenter	Christchurch Canterbury, New Zealand.
290 km (180 mi) NE from epicenter	Napier Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.

Earthquake Intensity Map

The graph below overlays a map of the region around the epicenter with earthquake intensity data provided by the US Geographic Survey. The highest intensity level detected for this earthquake is V.

I Not felt

II Weak

III Weak

IV Light

V Moderate

VI Strong

VII Very Strong

VIII Severe

IX Violent

X Extreme

Earthquake Intensity Map based on Shakemap Data provided by USGS.

Shaking reported by 61 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 61 people have reported shaking in 26 places, all within New Zealand.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand: 10 people.
Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand: 7 people.
Upper Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand: 5 people.
Blenheim, Marlborough, New Zealand: 5 people.
Picton, Marlborough, New Zealand: 4 people.
Riwaka, Tasman, New Zealand: 3 people.
Kapiti, Wellington, New Zealand: 3 people.
Palmerston North, Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand: 2 people.
Wanganui, Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand: 2 people.
Nelson, Nelson, New Zealand: 2 people.

2 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 2 smaller aftershocks occurred. At a distance of 3 km (1.9 mi) northwest of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 1 day later. It measured a magnitude of 3.8

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

Detected MAG2.5+ earthquakes within within 100km (62 mi), that occurred in the three days before and after the main shock.
Classification	Magnitude	When	Where
Main Shock This Earthquake	M 5.1	Oct 6, 2024 05:08 (Auckland Time)	-
Aftershock	M 3.5	1 day later Oct 7, 2024 13:22 (Auckland Time)	65 km (40 mi) NNE from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 3.8	1 day later Oct 7, 2024 14:23 (Auckland Time)	3 km (1.9 mi) NW from Main Shock.

More earthquakes coming?

The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.

It's always adviced to be cautious of the risk of a larger shock following any significant earthquake, however this risk is fairly small. There is a roughly 94 percent change that no larger main shock will follow in the days following this earthquake.

Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since April 25th, 2023, when a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit 211 km (131 mi) further east-northeast. An even stronger magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck on November 13th, 2016.

In total, 50 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.1 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every 2 months.

Low tsunami risk

DISCLAIMER: We strongly suggest to closely monitor advice from local authorities with regards to tsunami risks. Our analysis is based on automatically collected data from external sources, and these might contain mistakes. In addition, earthquakes can cause landslides that may lead to a tsunami, or be a followed by another, potentially stonger, earthquake.

Based on early data it appears this earthquake was not strong enough (lower than MAG-6.5) to be likely to cause destructive tsunami's. However this earthquake appeared to have hit at a shallow depth under sea, so stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Factor	Under Sea?	MAG-6.5 or stronger?	Shallow depth?
Explanation	Almost all tsunami's are caused by earthquakes with their epicenter under sea or very near the sea. However stay cautious in coastal areas as earthquakes on land may cause landslides into sea, potentially still causing a local tsunami.	Under MAG 6.5: Very unlikely to cause a tsunami. MAG 6.5 to 7.5: Destructive tsunami's do occur, but are uncommon. Likely to observe small sea level changes. MAG 7.6+: Earthquakes with these magnitudes might produce destructive tsunami's.	Most destructive tsunami's are caused by shallow earthquakes with a depth between 0 and 100km under the surface of the earth. Deeper tsunami's are unlikely to displace to ocean floor.
This Earthquake	This earthquake appears to have struck under the sea.	Not this earthquake. This earthquake had a magnitude of 5.1. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.	This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 46 km (28 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 18/10/24 00:58 (). This article is automatically generated based on available data. We keep checking multiple sources for additional information. This article gets updated as new details on this earthquake become available.