Quake Info: Moderate Mag. 3.7 Earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, 11 km East of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand, on Saturday, May 8, 2021 05:14 am (Auckland Time)

Mag. 3.7 earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, 11 km east of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand, on Saturday, May 8, 2021 05:14 am (Auckland time)

Moderate magnitude 3.7 earthquake at 6 km depth

7 May 17:16 UTC: First to report: GEONET (NZ) after 1 minute.
7 May 17:20: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 11.3 to 6.3 km (from 7 to 3.9 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 2.9 km (1.8 mi) towards E.

Earthquake details

Date & time	May 7, 2021 17:14:51 UTC
Local time at epicenter	Saturday, May 8, 2021 05:14 am (Pacific/Auckland GMT +12)
Status	Confirmed
Magnitude	3.7
Depth	6.3 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude	43.537°S / 172.7757°E South Pacific Ocean, New Zealand
Antipode	43.537°N / 7.224°W
Shaking intensity	Light shaking
Felt	29 reports
Primary data source	GEONET (NZ) (Earthquake Commission and Geological Survey, New Zealand)
Nearest volcano	###NEARESTVOLCANO2###
Weather at epicenter at time of quake
Estimated seismic energy released	2.2 x 10¹⁰ joules (6.22 megawatt hours, equivalent to 5.35 tons of TNT) \| about seismic energy

Show interactive Map

[smaller] [bigger]

Distance	Place	Max. shaking intensity(*)	Region	Country
11 km (7 mi) W of epicenter	Christchurch (pop: 363,900)	III Weak	Canterbury	New Zealand
21 km (13 mi) NNW of epicenter	Kaiapoi (pop: 10,200)	III Weak	Waimakariri District, Canterbury	New Zealand
22 km (13 mi) WSW of epicenter	Prebbleton (pop: 3,600)	III Weak	Selwyn District, Canterbury	New Zealand
30 km (19 mi) NNW of epicenter	Rangiora (pop: 18,400)	III Weak	Waimakariri District, Canterbury	New Zealand
32 km (20 mi) W of epicenter	Rolleston (pop: 3,120)	III Weak	Selwyn District, Canterbury	New Zealand
43 km (26 mi) N of epicenter	Amberley (pop: 1,110)	II Very weak	Hurunui District, Canterbury	New Zealand
46 km (29 mi) SW of epicenter	Leeston (pop: 1,270)	II Very weak	Selwyn District, Canterbury	New Zealand
55 km (34 mi) WNW of epicenter	Oxford (pop: 1,780)	II Very weak	Waimakariri District, Canterbury	New Zealand
93 km (58 mi) WSW of epicenter	Ashburton (pop: 30,100)	II Very weak	Canterbury	New Zealand
299 km (186 mi) NNE of epicenter	Wellington (pop: 381,900)	I Not felt	Wellington	New Zealand

Compare Quake Data

Data for the same earthquake as reported by different agencies

The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.

Mag	Depth	Time GMT	Epicenter	Agency
3.7	6.3 km (3.9 mi)	2021-05-7 17:14:51	New Zealand	GEONET (NZ) (Earthquake Commission and Geological Survey, New Zealand)
3.7	6 km (3.7 mi)	2021-05-7 17:14:51	3.7 SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND 0.5 km (0.3 mi) epicenter difference with GEONET (NZ)	EMSC (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre)

Most recent quakes Top 20 past 24 hrs Quakes in New Zealand

Seismograms

Seismic station: South Karori, New Zealand (SNZO/IU network) | Distance from quake: 294 km / 183 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station South Karori, New Zealand: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.5-10.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

User-reports for this quake (30)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.

Contribute:
Leave a comment if you find a particular report interesting or want to add to it.
Flag as inappropriate.
Mark as helpful or interesting.
Send your own user report!

Translate

9.6 km W of epicenter [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging : Woke me from sleep, felt bed rocking side to side I just drifted back to sleep after as I knew it was nothing to fear | One user found this interesting. (reported through our app)

Home / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s : Heard the door rattling | One user found this interesting.

Christchurch / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s : Woke me up. Strong shaking. | One user found this interesting.

New Brighton Christchurch / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s : Loud preshake noise, solid shaking, with after rumbling. Rebuilt house movement. | One user found this interesting.

Christchurch, Canterbury (13.8 km WSW of epicenter) [Map] / not felt

Christchurch, Canterbury (11.1 km W of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 1-2 s : Woke up at 5:14am by shaking in bed on the 1st floor

Christchurch, Canterbury (4.8 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Christchurch, Canterbury (6.7 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : Loud an rattled (reported through our app)

1.5 km ENE of epicenter [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / 2-5 s : Short

Christchurch central / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s

Christchurch city centre / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 2-5 s

8.7 km NW of epicenter [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) (reported through our app)

186 Keyes rd / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Christchurch (9.5 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 10-15 s

Christchurch central / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s

Christchurch / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Like a truck went past but no truck just the sound of the house moving. It was the sound of the house that made me realise what was happening.

Merivale / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : Bed started to shake

Christchurch / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s

South New Brighton / Light shaking (MMI IV)

14 seddon street / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s

Christchurch city / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 10-15 s

Christchurch / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Christchurch (7.6 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) (reported through our app)

Christchurch, Linwood / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / vibration and rolling / 2-5 s

198A England Street, Christchurch / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging

Sudima hotel Christchurch (6.7 km SSE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s

Christchurch / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s

Christchurch / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s

Cashmere / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Christchurch (8.5 km WSW of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / very short : very light and quick (reported through our app)

Christchurch Addington near Tower Junction. Sharp

Earlier earthquakes in the same area

Click here to search our database for earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900!