M5.2 earthquake near Richmond, Tasman District

What happened

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 79 km S of Wakefield, New Zealand on 9 Feb 2016, 00:39 UTC at a depth of 54 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Moderate. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Richmond, about 88 km away in Tasman District, New Zealand.