# The sequence: Canterbury earthquakes since 4 September 2010

3,657 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more in GeoNet’s catalogue since the M7.2 mainshock, 39 of them magnitude 5 or bigger. The most recent: M3.0 on 28 June 2026.

## The big ones

- M7.2, 4 September 2010, 25 km south of Oxford, 11.0 km deep
- M6.2, 22 February 2011, 5 km south-east of Christchurch, 5.4 km deep
- M6.0, 13 June 2011, 5 km south-east of Christchurch, 6.9 km deep
- M5.9, 23 December 2011, 5 km east of Christchurch, 7.5 km deep
- M5.8, 4 September 2010, 20 km west of Christchurch, 10.0 km deep
- M5.8, 23 December 2011, 10 km east of Christchurch, 10.0 km deep
- M5.7, 14 February 2016, 10 km east of Christchurch, 8.0 km deep
- M5.6, 22 February 2011, 5 km south of Christchurch, 6.6 km deep
- M5.5, 4 September 2010, 25 km west of Christchurch, 11.9 km deep
- M5.5, 4 September 2010, 15 km south-west of Christchurch, 7.5 km deep
- M5.5, 4 September 2010, 35 km south of Oxford, 8.1 km deep
- M5.5, 22 February 2011, 5 km south of Christchurch, 5.8 km deep

## Year by year

- 2010: 1,231 shakes
- 2011: 1,865 shakes
- 2012: 237 shakes
- 2013: 54 shakes
- 2014: 43 shakes
- 2015: 26 shakes
- 2016: 57 shakes
- 2017: 20 shakes
- 2018: 16 shakes
- 2019: 17 shakes
- 2020: 20 shakes
- 2021: 27 shakes
- 2022: 5 shakes
- 2023: 17 shakes
- 2024: 13 shakes
- 2025: 6 shakes
- 2026: 3 shakes

## The suburbs the catalogue points at

- [Cashmere](https://www.chch.live/cashmere): 205 epicentres inside the outline: biggest a M5.6 in 2011
- [Heathcote Valley](https://www.chch.live/heathcote-valley): 103 epicentres inside the outline: biggest a M6.2 in 2011
- [Sumner](https://www.chch.live/sumner): 101 epicentres inside the outline: biggest a M5.3 in 2011
- [Port Levy](https://www.chch.live/port-levy): 87 epicentres inside the outline: biggest a M4.9 in 2011
- [Cracroft](https://www.chch.live/cracroft): 77 epicentres inside the outline: biggest a M4.3 in 2011
- [Halswell](https://www.chch.live/halswell): 70 epicentres inside the outline: biggest a M4.8 in 2010
- [Kennedys Bush](https://www.chch.live/kennedys-bush): 65 epicentres inside the outline: biggest a M4.3 in 2011
- [Bromley](https://www.chch.live/bromley): 58 epicentres inside the outline: biggest a M4.3 in 2011
- [Hillsborough](https://www.chch.live/hillsborough): 52 epicentres inside the outline: biggest a M4.9 in 2011
- [Mount Pleasant](https://www.chch.live/mount-pleasant): 33 epicentres inside the outline: biggest a M4.1 in 2011
- [Pigeon Bay](https://www.chch.live/pigeon-bay): 32 epicentres inside the outline: biggest a M4.0 in 2011
- [Lyttelton](https://www.chch.live/lyttelton): 28 epicentres inside the outline: biggest a M4.1 in 2011

## Also in the earthquakes

- [Earthquakes, live](https://www.chch.live/quakes), the ones that just landed
- [The faults](https://www.chch.live/faults), the traces under the plains
- [Liquefaction](https://www.chch.live/liquefaction), the ground that moved
- [The land grades](https://www.chch.live/technical-categories), TC1, TC2, TC3
- [The red zone](https://www.chch.live/redzone), the land the Crown wrote off
- [The rebuild’s receipts](https://www.chch.live/rebuild), SCIRT’s photograph archive
- [The earthquakes, explained](https://www.chch.live/how-nz-works/canterbury-earthquakes), what happened and why
- [Liquefaction, explained](https://www.chch.live/how-nz-works/liquefaction), why the east failed
- [The rebuild, explained](https://www.chch.live/how-nz-works/rebuild), the machinery that put it back

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GeoNet earthquake catalogue via the FDSN event service, every magnitude-3+ event in the region box, verbatim. Months and days are New Zealand time. The whole file: https://www.chch.live/quakes-sequence.json