New Zealand sits on two of the most active tectonic boundaries on Earth — the Australian–Pacific plate boundary, which runs the length of the country as the Alpine Fault in the south and the Hikurangi subduction zone in the north. Add to that the Taupō Volcanic Zone, the Auckland Volcanic Field, and the andesite stratovolcanoes of the central North Island, and New Zealand has a concentration of large, live geological hazards matched by very few places on the planet.
This page tracks the six major geohazards. For each, we show how long it has been since the last event, the average interval between such events, and the current published probability of recurrence in the next 50 years. For the volcanoes, live Volcanic Alert Levels are pulled from GeoNet. Click any hazard for the science, the scenario, and what to do.
The six major hazards — live dashboard
How to read this dashboard
The years since last count is live — it increments by one day each time this page loads. The average interval is the long-term geological average, calculated by GNS Science and university researchers from palaeoseismic and palaeoeruptive records going back thousands of years. The 50-year probability is the current published estimate from the same research groups; it is not calculated naively from the interval, because real hazard rates are time-dependent — the longer it has been since an event, the more strain (for faults) or magma (for volcanoes) has typically accumulated.
What every New Zealander should actually do
- Have a grab-bag. Water, food, torch, radio, phone charger, basic first aid, cash, warm clothes, copies of important documents. Every adult and every car should have one.
- Know your tsunami zone. If you live or work on the east coast of the North Island, identify high ground at least 35 m above sea level or 1 km inland and walk the route to it in daylight.
- Secure your home. Strap the hot-water cylinder. Bolt tall furniture to walls. Fix heavy items that could fall on people. Check your house is bolted to its foundations.
- Follow GeoNet. geonet.org.nz is the single source of truth for earthquake and volcanic alerts in New Zealand.
- Practice. Do a household ShakeOut drill once a year. The national drill is at the end of October every year; there's no reason not to join.
About this page
Probability figures are sourced from GNS Science publications, the AF8 programme, the DEVORA programme at the University of Auckland, and the East Coast LAB project. Live Volcanic Alert Levels come from the GeoNet public API. This page is not a substitute for official Civil Defence information; in any actual event, follow instructions from NEMA and your local Civil Defence group.