Historical emergencies

A National Advisory: Tsunami activity – expect strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore was issued at 8:14pm on 15 January 2022 for the north and east coast of the North Island and the Chatham Islands following confirmation that a tsunami had been generated following a large volcanic eruption at Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'pai in Tonga.  The Advisory area was updated at 9:40am on 16 January to include the west coast of the South Island. Tsunami activity was observed around New Zealand and caused damage at Tutukaka Marina in Northland. The National Advisory was cancelled at 7:06pm on 16 January following advice from GNS Science that the tsunami threat had passed for all areas. Strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges continued for several days following.

A magnitude 8.2 earthquake near the Alaska Peninsula occurred at 6:16pm on 29 July 2021. The earthquake was assessed by the National Emergency Management Agency and a National Advisory: No Tsunami Threat to New Zealand message was issued.

Heavy rain between 16 and 17 July 2021 resulted in flooding in Marlborough and Buller. The Buller River flooded causing significant flooding in Buller requiring wide-scale evacuations. States of local emergency were declared for Buller District on 16 July and Marlborough District on 17 July. The state of local emergency for Marlborough was terminated on 28 July and replaced with a notice of local transition period. The state of local emergency for Buller was terminated on 6 August and replaced with a notice of local transition period. 

A magnitude 8.1 earthquake in the Kermadec Islands occurred at 8:28am on 5 March 2021. This was the second earthquake in the Kermadec Islands region that day following a magnitude 7.4 earthquake at 6:41am. These quakes followed an earlier magnitude 7.3 earthquake at 2:27am on the same day in the Hikurangi region. A tsunami warning was issued at 9:17am and evacuation of some land areas was required. An emergency mobile alert was sent to areas under land and marine threat. At 1:17pm, following advice from GNS Science that the largest waves had passed, the threat level wass now downgraded to a Beach and Marine threat for all areas which were previously under Land and Marine threat. At 3:43pm the tsunami activity advisory was cancelled following advice that the beach and marine threat had passed.

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake in the Kermadec Islands occurred at 6:41am on 5 March 2021. This quake followed an earlier magnitude 7.3 earthquake at 2:27am in the Hikurangi region. A National Advisory: Tsunami Activity was issued at 7:29am for the East Coast of the North Island from the Bay of Islands to Whangarei. At 8:28am a second magnitude 8:1 earthquake occurred in the same area.

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurred in the Hikurangi area east of the North Island at 2:27am on 5 March 2021. A National Advisory: Earthquake Being Assessed message was issued at 2:40am. At 3:28am a Tsunami Warning: Land and Marine was issued advising people to evacuate the East Coast of the North Island from Cape Runaway to Tolaga Bay. An emergency mobile alert was issued to the areas under land and marine threat. At 5:02am the threat was downgraded to a National Advisory: Tsunami Activity following advice from GNS Science that there was no longer a land threat. The National Advisory was cancelled at 6:01am following advice that the threat of strong and unusual currents and surges had passed. This earthquake was followed by two large quakes in the Kermadec Islands: a magnitude 7.4 quake at 6:41am and a magnitude 8.1 quake at 8:28am. 

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake southeast the Loyalty Islands occured at 2:20am on 11 February 2021. The earthquake was assessed by the National Emergency Management Agency and a National Advisory: Tsunami Activity message was issued.

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake south of the Kermadec Islands occured at 12:50am on 19 June 2020. The earthquake was assessed by the National Emergency Management Agency and a National Advisory: No Tsunami Threat to New Zealand message was issued.

A nationwide state of national emergency was declared on 25 March 2020 at 12:21pm due to COVID-19 and was extended six times. The state of national emergency ended on 13 May 2020 at 12:21pm and was replaced by a National Transition Period. The state of national emergency covered all of New Zealand including the Chatham Islands, Stewart Island, and other offshore islands. The National Transition Period was terminated at 1.53pm on Monday 8 June 2020.

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Widespread flooding in the lower South Island resulted in evacuations in Milford, Gore, Mataura and Wyndham, and extensive road closures across the Southland region.

A State of Emergency was declared for the Fiordland Community Board Area on 3 February 2020 owing to flooding in the Fiordland area. On 4 February States of Emergency were declared in for the Southland Region, including Gore, and for the Clutha District owing to widespread flooding. The State of Emergency for the Clutha District was lifted on 7 February. The State of Emergency for Southland ended on Tuesday 18 February and was replaced with a Transition Notice.