1987 Edgecumbe earthquake measured 6.5 on the moment magnitude scale and struck the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand at 1:42 pm on 2 March . The hypocentre was at a shallow depth of 8 km . The epicentre was south-south-east of the town of Matata , and north-north-west of Edgecumbe , on the Rangitaiki Plains ( the floodplain of the Rangitaiki River , the Tarawera River and the Whakatane River ) . It was the most damaging earthquake New Zealand had experienced since the 1968 Inangahua earthquake
1968 Inangahua earthquake
1968 Inangahua earthquake
1987 Edgecumbe earthquake