Thousands report shaking after magnitude 4.8 quake near Marlborough Sounds; smaller tremor near Te Anau

More than 7000 people reported feeling a moderate earthquake that struck in the Marlborough Sounds late on Saturday night.

The magnitude 4.8 quake hit at 11:31pm on August 30, 10 kilometres south of French Pass and just west of Pelorus Sound, at a depth of 51 kilometres. GeoNet said moderate shaking was felt widely across the Nelson-Tasman, Wellington, and Taranaki regions, with 7400+ “felt it” reports submitted to its website.

While no damage was reported, the tremor was strong enough to be noticed across a large part of central New Zealand, including the top of the South Island and the west coast of the North Island.

A M4.9 earthquake occurred 52km deep in the Nelson-Tasman Region at 11:31pm. Moderate shaking was felt widely across the Taranaki region, Wellington region and Nelson-Tasman region. We have received 7400+ felt reports.

For more detail, see https://t.co/ca9MSdfhgX pic.twitter.com/uasDcwErkm

— GeoNet (@geonet) August 30, 2025

In a separate event, a smaller quake struck in Fiordland in the early hours of Sunday. The magnitude 3.5 earthquake occurred at 1:12am on August 31, about 35 kilometres south-west of Te Anau, at a shallow depth of 5 kilometres. GeoNet classified the shaking as unnoticeable.

M3.5 quake causing weak shaking near Te Anau https://t.co/kwgM2tSMeg

— GeoNet (@geonet) August 30, 2025