Historical Disasters By Region
Earthquakes
•1914 - a magnitude 6.8 quake shakes the East Cape, causing large landslips.
•1966 - a magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes Gisborne. Over 3,000 chimneys are damaged, and the Main Post Office is so badly cracked that it has to be later demolished.
•2007 - a magnitude 6.8 earthquake damages buildings in the Gisborne central business district.
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Tsunami
•1868 - a tsunami from an earthquake in Chile takes 15 hours to reach New Zealand, building to a height of 8 metres.
•1947 - two tsunami up to 10 metres high within a few months, caused by seafloor movements in Poverty Bay, destroy homes, bridges and roads in the Gisborne region.
•1960 - a huge earthquake in Chile sends a 5.5 metre tsunami. Many Gisborne residents unwisely flock to the shore to watch it, and are lucky that the low tide lessens the tsunami’s effects.
Volcanoes
•1995 - an eruption of Mount Ruapehu causes ash to fall across the region. Ash fallout could cause major disruption in the Gisborne region.
Storms
•1968 - Cyclone Giselle causes much storm damage throughout the country.
•1988 - Cyclone Bola rips off roofs, downs trees and causes major slips. Six people die.
Floods
•2005 - all roads in and out of Gisborne are blocked by floods and slips, and crops are destroyed.
Non-natural Disasters
•1918/19 - Spanish flu, our worst disaster, kills over 8,000 New Zealanders.
•1957/58 - the Asian flu comes in two waves, and affects about 70-80% of the population, though few people die.
•1968/69 - the Hong Kong flu reaches New Zealand. As it occurs mainly during the Christmas holidays, it does not spread as fast amongst schoolchildren and their families.
•2009 - human cases of non-seasonal influenza A (H1N1) 'swine flu' resulting from human to human transmission are identified in Mexico in April, with subsequent spread to many other countries, including New Zealand. All of New Zealand’s cases have recently returned from travel in affected areas or are close contacts of cases. New Zealand continues its efforts to contain the influenza A (H1N1) swine flu virus and prevent community transmission. By late May case numbers in New Zealand remain stable, but the number of overseas cases being notified to the World Health Organisation continues to increase.