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New Zealand

M3.2 Earthquake near COOK STRAIT, NEW ZEALAND (New Zealand)

UTC time: 2025-12-16 13:26:25 UTC Local time: —

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About this earthquake

On December 16, 2025 at 13:26 UTC, a magnitude M3.2 earthquake occurred near COOK STRAIT, NEW ZEALAND (New Zealand). At around 78 km, the focal depth places this among intermediate-depth events. Shaking of this size is frequently noticed but usually harmless.

The data is provided by EMSC and cross-checked across seismological networks. New Zealand: over the past 24 hours, QuakeMap24 logged 3 earthquakes, the strongest at M4.0.

Details

ID
6700452cc1b5271b4ed0e01f73573d23dd46d4be
Magnitude
M3.2
Depth
77.5 km
UTC time
2025-12-16 13:26:25 UTC
Local time
—
Country
New Zealand
City
Marlborough
Source
emsc
Coordinates
-40.96350, 173.62310
Temperature
7.4°C

Depth profile

Depth profile Depth: 77.5 km (Intermediate) Surface Shallow Intermediate Deep 0 km 70 km 300 km 700 km 77.5 km
Intermediate
77.5 km
77.5 km — close to the regional average (70.9 km)
Regional average: 70.9 km
Why depth matters

Intermediate-depth quakes are felt across a wider area but usually cause less surface damage.

Depth classes per USGS

Volcanoes nearby

  • Taranaki
    Distance: 189 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 2'518 m ·Last eruption: 1800 ·New Zealand
  • Ruapehu
    Distance: 250 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 2'797 m ·Last eruption: 2007 ·New Zealand
  • Tongariro
    Distance: 264 km ·Stratovolcano(es) ·Elevation: 1'978 m ·Last eruption: 2012 ·New Zealand
  • Taupo
    Distance: 310 km ·Caldera ·Elevation: 760 m ·Last eruption: 260 ·New Zealand
  • Okataina
    Distance: 398 km ·Lava dome(s) ·Elevation: 1'111 m ·Last eruption: 1981 ·New Zealand
  • Auckland Volcanic Field
    Distance: 464 km ·Volcanic field ·Elevation: 260 m ·Last eruption: 1446 ·New Zealand

Radius · 50 km

Nearby infrastructure

Up to 3 nearest sites per category

Airports

  • Nelson AirportNew Zealand · NSN · NZNS
    49.9 kmStraight-line distance

Source: OurAirports · Dataset date: 2026-10-05

This selection shows geographic proximity, not a hazard zone or confirmed impacts. Distances use recorded site coordinates. Sources & data dates

Marlborough

Context for this earthquake

05 Oct 2025 – 05 Oct 2026 · M ≥ 3.0 · 47 Catalogue entries

Sufficiently reliable matching data are not currently available for a direct comparison. The area profile shows the available records and their limitations.

Open seismic profile

Historic earthquake map · New Zealand

Open history map
Explore recent and long-term earthquake activity in this country. Use filters to narrow down by magnitude, depth, and date range.

Country statistics · New Zealand

Country overview
View earthquake KPIs, strongest and latest events, and averages for this country.

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