Live earthquake check

Earthquakes near Rotorua today

Updated

No M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km of Rotorua in the last 24 hours The last M2.5+ within 100 km was M5.3 90 km WSW, 11 days ago.

Was there an earthquake in Rotorua just now? This page checks the live USGS catalogue for quakes around Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand and updates every few minutes.

Last 24 hours
0 M2.5+ within 100 km
Last 7 days
0 M2.5+ within 100 km
Last 30 days
2 M2.5+ within 100 km
Largest in 30 days
M5.3 90 km WSW, Oct 15, 2026
Largest in past year
M5.7 127 km SW, Jul 24, 2026
Past year count
16 M2.5+ within 150 km
Nearest in 30 days
85 km M4.0, Sep 27, 2026

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Recent earthquakes near Rotorua

USGS recorded 2 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more within 100 km of Rotorua in the past 30 days, 0 of them in the last 7 days. The most recent was M5.3 90 km WSW of the city at Oct 15, 18:25 local time (11 days ago).

The average depth was about 218 km and 0 of 2 were shallow (under 70 km), which are the ones most likely to be felt at the surface.

Time (Rotorua)UTCMagnitudeDistanceDepthLocation
Oct 18, 00:32Oct 17, 11:32 UTCM4.3139 km NE133 km83 km N of Opotiki, New Zealand
Oct 15, 18:25Oct 15, 05:25 UTCM5.390 km WSW284 km46 km SSE of Otorohanga, New Zealand
Sep 28, 09:49Sep 27, 20:49 UTCM4.085 km NE151 km32 km N of Whakatane, New Zealand

M2.5+ within 150 km, past 30 days, newest first. Times in Pacific/Auckland.

Largest earthquakes near Rotorua in the past year

The strongest earthquake within 150 km of Rotorua in the past 12 months was M5.7 on Jul 24, 2026, 127 km SW of the city (48 km W of Turangi, New Zealand).

With 16 M2.5+ earthquakes in a year (about 1.3 a month), the area around Rotorua is moderately active by global standards. 7 of the ten largest reached M4.5, the level at which damage near the epicentre becomes possible.

DateMagnitudeDistanceDepthLocation
Jul 24, 2026M5.7127 km SW10 km48 km W of Turangi, New Zealand
Oct 15, 2026M5.390 km WSW284 km46 km SSE of Otorohanga, New Zealand
Jul 7, 2026M4.9148 km NE122 km87 km WNW of Hicks Bay, New Zealand
May 9, 2026M4.9121 km SW227 km62 km WNW of Turangi, New Zealand
Nov 10, 2025M4.6126 km SW235 km58 km WNW of Turangi, New Zealand
Aug 28, 2026M4.5139 km SSE17 km24 km NNE of Bay View, New Zealand
Aug 17, 2026M4.5116 km SW177 km43 km WNW of Turangi, New Zealand
Apr 22, 2026M4.475 km NE170 km31 km NE of Maketu, New Zealand
Mar 24, 2026M4.4144 km ENE118 km57 km WNW of Hicks Bay, New Zealand
Nov 3, 2025M4.48 km SE177 km4 km SE of Ohinemutu, New Zealand

Was it felt in Rotorua?

The largest nearby quake this month, M5.3 at 90 km, was probably felt in Rotorua by a rough rule of thumb (an M3 is typically noticed within a few tens of km, an M5 up to a few hundred km; local ground and building type matter a lot).

USGS "Did You Feel It?" received reports for 1 of these quakes: M5.3 on Oct 15, 2026 (9 reports, max intensity 2.7).

If you felt shaking, you can report it to USGS; reports refine the intensity map within minutes.

Tsunami warning status

None of the earthquakes near Rotorua in the past year carried the USGS tsunami flag, which USGS sets for large quakes in oceanic regions where the tsunami warning centres issue messages.

Official tsunami warnings come from the NOAA tsunami warning centres (tsunami.gov) and national agencies; follow local authorities if you are on a coast after strong shaking.

Earthquakes around the world today

Worldwide, USGS listed 146 earthquakes of M1+ in the last 24 hours; the largest was M6.5 Bonin Islands, Japan region.

USGS lists every magnitude in the United States but outside it coverage is complete only from about M4–4.5, so smaller local quakes reported by national agencies may be missing. Magnitudes and locations are revised for hours after an event.

Earthquakes near other cities in New Zealand and nearby

Earthquake pages

More live data for Rotorua

Data: USGS Earthquake Hazards Program (ComCat), GeoNames (cities, CC BY 4.0).