The region had already experienced several large earthquakes , the very large 1855 Wairarapa Earthquake , and the 1934 Pahiatua earthquake in the Northern Wairarapa . The 1855 earthquake occurred on the Wairarapa Fault which is part of the North Island Fault System . At 11.16 pm a small and sharp but brief earthquake of magnitude 7.2 Ms ( Mw 6.9-7.2 ) shook a wide area in the lower North Island from Eketahuna to Masterton , Featherston and Wellington ; and was noticed from Auckland to near Dunedin . The main earthquake was of 7.2 Ms and the epicentre was near Masterton and 12 km deep . The quake lasted for over a minute and had been preceded by a foreshock three hours earlier at 8.15 pm . Many buildings in Masterton were damaged . The mayor Thomas Jordan declared a state of emergency and got troops to patrol the town . There was considerable damage in Palmerston North . In Wellington twenty thousand chimneys fell , and there was one death in the suburb of Kelburn when a 70-year old retired chemist Hedley Victor Evens ( sic ) was killed by coal gas from a fractured pipe . Some downtown pediments were damaged , but some had already been removed after the 1931 Hawke 's Bay earthquake . The city engineer K. E . Luke held that damage was less severe as the quake ended swiftly . Another shock in the area struck on 2nd August at 12.34 am , preceded by a foreshock on the late afternoon of the 1st . This was of magnitude 7.0 Ms ( Mw 6.8 ) or slightly less than the earlier quake . The epicentre was 40 km deep and at location 41.01 ° S and 175.52 ° E. Wairarapa except for Eketahuna did not suffer as badly , though in Masterton the June damage was exacerbated . The 2 August aftershock was followed by a third severe aftershock on 2 December , with about 600 aftershocks recorded to the end of the year . Repairs from the first quake were not completed , and the mortar for some repairs had not properly set . Some buildings weakened in June suffered further damage , though it was sometimes hard to tell if further damage had occurred . In Masterton many buildings were badly damaged by the first quake ; the fire station , the Bank of New Zealand , several shops and St Matthews Church ( which was later blown up by the Army ) . The Waiohine road bridge was badly sunken and was closed . After the second quake the Wairarapa Farmers Co-op building partly collapsed . In Wellington the first quake toppled some twenty thousand chimneys . In August there was serious damage in the Willis Street – Manners Street area to three buildings : Charles Begg 's music shop , the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel , and the Regent Hotel
1934 Pahiatua earthquake
1934 Pahiatua earthquake
1942 Wairarapa earthquakes