December 20, 2007 Earthquake: Off Coast North Island, New Zealand
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck Off Coast North Island, New Zealand on December 20, 2007 at 07:55:15 UTC, 20 km below the surface. It killed 1 person.
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
- December 20, 2007
- Time
- 07:55:15 UTC
- Place
- Off Coast North Island, New Zealand
- Magnitude
- 6.6 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 20 km (12 mi)
- Intensity
- 7 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 39.011° S, 178.291° E
- Country
- New Zealand
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 3
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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
One person died of a heart attack, 3 buildings collapsed and several heavily damaged (VII), a main road damaged and power
outages occurred at Gisborne. Felt (VII) at Mangapapa
and Whataupoko; (VI) at Kaiti; (V) at Edgecumbe and
Wairoa; (IV) at Blenheim, Hastings, Kapiti, Napier,
Tauranga, Wanganui and Whakatane; (III) at Lower Hutt,
New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Taupo, Te
Puke, Upper Hutt and Wellington; (II) at Christchurch
and Nelson. Also felt at Auckland, Dannevirke,
Leeston, Levin, Marton, North Shore, Opotiki, Otaki,
Porirua and Waipukurau. (reference #1053)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- October 6, 1914, North Island, New Zealand
- March 2, 1987, North Island, Whakatani, Edgecumbe, New Zealand
- July 18, 2004, Rotorua, Tauranga, North Island, New Zealand
- 1831, Poverty Bay, North Island, New Zealand
- September 8, 1880, Gisborne, New Zealand
- March 25, 1947, Off Coast North Island, New Zealand
- February 11, 1855, New Zealand
- September 15, 1932, Gisborne, Wairoa, New Zealand
- May 17, 1947, Off Coast North Island, New Zealand
- February 13, 1931, Northern New Zealand
- February 19, 1931, Northern New Zealand
- February 5, 1995, Christchurch, North Island, S Island, New Zealand
- August 25, 2008, North Island, New Zealand
- February 21, 1973, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
- March 14, 1950, N. New Zealand
More
Significant earthquakes of 2007The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2007Recent earthquakes near hereThis 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 7724.