M6.4 earthquake near Masterton, Wellington Region

What happened

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 31 km ENE of Waipawa, New Zealand on 27 Dec 1961, 23:48 UTC at a depth of 20 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Strong. Can cause damage in populated areas up to tens of kilometres away. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Masterton, about 37 km away in Wellington Region, New Zealand.