Alerts

Strong mag. 5.3 earthquake – 43 km SSE of Otorohanga, New Zealand, on Thursday, Oct 15, 2026, at 06:25 pm (Auckland time)

Published: 14 October 2026
Categories: Global Earthquake Activity

RSS feed source: USGS Earthquake Hazards Program

Strong magnitude 5.3 earthquake at 286 km depth

15 Oct 05:48 UTC: First to report: USGS after 23 minutes.

Update Thu, 15 Oct 2026, 05:51

Magnitude 5.3 earthquake strikes near Hamilton, Hamilton City, Waikato, New ZealandThe United States Geological Survey reported a magnitude 5.3 quake in New Zealand near Hamilton, Hamilton City, Waikato, only 26 minutes ago. The earthquake hit early evening on Thursday, October 15th, 2026, at 6:25 pm local time at an intermediate to considerable depth of 286.01 km. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission and Geological Survey (GeoNet), which listed it as a magnitude 5.0 earthquake. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 4.8, Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency at magnitude 5.0, and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) at magnitude 5.3.
Generally quakes of this magnitude are recorded by more than one agency and the results can vary, with subsequent reports that come in after the first one often showing more accuracy.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Benneydale (pop. 190) located 3 km from the epicenter, Te Kuiti (pop. 4,900) 30 km away,

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