August 31, 1888 Earthquake: Amuri District, South Island, New Zealand

Name: August 31, 1888 Earthquake: Amuri District, South Island, New Zealand
Start: 1888-08-31
Location: Amuri District, South Island, New Zealand

August 31, 1888 · M7.3

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Amuri District, South Island, New Zealand on August 31, 1888 at 16:10:00 UTC.

Map

Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.

The earthquake

Date: August 31, 1888
Time: 16:10:00 UTC
Place: Amuri District, South Island, New Zealand
Magnitude: 7.3
Intensity: 9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 34.500° S, 172.700° E
Country: New Zealand

The toll

Damage: Severe (about $5 to $25 million)

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

Significant earthquakes of 1888 The 1800s Recent earthquakes near here This day in weather history

Sources

Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 2384.