Historical Disasters By Region
Earthquakes
•1848 - a magnitude 7.1 earthquake causes serious damage to buildings in Wellington and kills three people.
•1855 - originating in the Wairarapa, the biggest earthquake in New Zealand’s modern history (magnitude 8.1-8.2) rearranges the whole Wellington coastline. Brick buildings in Wellington and the Wairarapa are destroyed and roads leading out of Wellington are blocked. Five people are killed.
•1942 - two earthquakes (one magnitude 7.2 and one 7.0) strike the Wairarapa only weeks apart, causing major damage to buildings, including 20,000 fallen chimneys in the Wellington region.
topTsunami
•1855 - a 10 metre tsunami is triggered by fault movement in Cook Strait during the Wairarapa earthquake.
Storms
•1936 - a cyclone sinks many boats. The inter-island ferry Rangatira runs onto rocks in Wellington Harbour.
•1968 - Cyclone Giselle rips off roofs and topples trees, causing 54 deaths, including 51 on board the inter-island ferry Wahine when it sinks in Wellington Harbour.
•1992 - a storm damages roads in the Wairarapa.
Floods
•1840 - a flood on the Hutt River results in settlers moving their new town from Petone to Wellington.
•1858 - the Hutt River becomes a raging torrent, carrying away homes and killing nine people.
•1976 - flooding in the Hutt Valley and Wellington destroys homes, causes slips, and blocks roads, causing $30 million in damage.
•1990 - families are evacuated because of flooding in Greytown.
•1998 - heavy rain swells rivers on the Kapiti Coast, sweeping one man to his death.
•2002 - the worst flooding in 50 years hits the Wairarapa.
•2003 - heavy rain causes a mud slide to destroy a motel, and floods shops and homes in Kapiti.
•2004 - 500 people in Lower Hutt are evacuated due to floodwaters.
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.