Historical emergencies

State of Local Emergency declared at 6:36am on 26 June 2024 for Wairoa due to coastal inundation. State of emergency expired at 6:37am on 3 July 2024 at which time the district moved to a local transition period.

A State of Local Emergency was declared for Christchurch City  and Selwyn District at 6:13pm on 14 February 2024 due to the impacts of a large fire in the Port Hills. The state of emergency was terminated at 1pm on 21 February 2024 when notice of a local transition period was given.

A State of Local Emergency was declared for the Waiau Aparima Ward, Southland due to coastal erosion at Bluecliffs. The declaration was made as a precautionary measure to ensure Emergency Management Southland was able to respond to the concerns around the threat to life and property from erosion and the landfill at Bluecliffs.

Westland District SOLE lifted. No transition to recovery

Heavy rainfall caused significant surface flooding in the Gore district. A state of local emergency was declared on 21 September 2023.

Heavy rainfall caused flooding in Queenstown. A state of local emergency was declared on 22 September 2023.

A National Advisory: Earthquake Being Assessed message was issued at 9:32pm on 8 September 2023 following a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in the Kermadec Islands region. Following assessment a National Advisory: No Tsunami Threat to New Zealand was issued at 9:44pm.

A National Advisory: Large Pacific Earthquake Being Assessed message was issued at 2:06pm on 20 May 2023 following a magnitude 7.1 (initially reported as m7.4) Loyalty Islands earthquake at 1:51pm on the same day. Following the assessment a National Advsory: No Tsunami Threat message was issued at 2:41pm on 20 May 2023.

A National Advisory: Large Pacific Earthquake Being Assessed message was issued at 3:17pm on 19 May 2023 following a magnitude 7.7 earthquake southeast of the Loyalty Islands. Following assessment a National Advisory: Tsunami activity – expect strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore message was issued at 4:09pm on 19 May 2023. GNS Science advised NEMA that tsunami wave activity was observed at New Zealand coastlines over the course of this evening. The National Advisory was cancelled at 9:40pm on 19 May 2023 after tsunami wave activity had significantly abated.

A local state of emergency for Auckland was declared on 9 May due to severe weather. The state of emergency ended on 11 May when notice of a local transition period was given.

A National Advisory: Earthquake Being Assessed message wasissued at 1:04pm on 24 April 2023 folliwing a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in the Kermadec Islands. Following assessment a National Advisory: No tsunami threat to New Zealand message was issued at 1:55pm on 24 April 2023.

Cyclone Gabrielle caused severe impacts in may parts of New Zealand from 12 February 2023. Local states of emergency were already in place for Auckland and Waikato. Further local states of emergency were declared for Northland, Bay of Plenty, Opotiki District, Whakatane District, Waikato District, Hauraki District, Tairawhiti, and Tararua District. At 8:43am on 14 February 2023 a State of National Emergency declared owing to Cyclone Gabrielle for the Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Tairāwhiti and Hawke's Bay Regions. A further declaration was made at 1:17pm on 14 February to include the Tararua District. The state of national emergency was extended on Tuesday the 21st of February, Tuesday the 28th of February, and Tuesday the 7th of March, with each extension lasting an additional seven days. As of the 28th of February, the State of National Emergency concluded for the Bay of Plenty region. On the 3rd of March, the State of National Emergency was concluded in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, and the Tararua District. The State of National Emergency, which encompassed Tairāwhiti and Hawke's Bay, concluded on the 14th of March and was replaced with a National Transition Period.

A local state of emergency for Auckland was declared on 27 January 2023 owing to severe weather. The declaration was extended on 3 February 2023 and again on 9 February 2023. The state of local emergency ended on 14 February 2023 when a State of National Emergency was declared.

Tairāwhiti Civil Defence declared a state of local emergency due to the severe impacts of ex-tropical Cyclone Hale

A National Advisory: Large Pacific Earthquake Being Assessed was issued at 12:09am on 12 November 2022 following a magnitude 7.3 (initially reported as 7.5) earthquake at  in the Tonga region. Following assessment a National Advisory: No Tsunami Threat to New Zealand was issued at 12:49am.

A heavy rain event caused impacts across the top of south island. States of local emergency were declared for the West Coast region on 16 August 2022, Nelson-Tasman region on 17 August 2022 and Marlborough region on 19 August 2022. The Nelson-Tasman and Marlborough regions were particularly affected by significant flooding and slips requiring evacuations and cutting off road access to some communities.

A local State of Emergency for the Pleasant Point- Temuka Ward was declared on 20 July 2022. due to a heavy rain flood event.  The severe weather also impacted many other parts of the country causing flooding, slips and road closures. The local state of emergency expired on 27 July 2022 and was replaced with a notice of a local transition period.

On Wednesday 23 March, Tairāwhiti Civil Defence declared a state of emergency for the region due to severe weather. The severe weather caused flooding that required evacuations. Also on 23 March, MetService upgraded their Orange Heavy Rain Warning to a Red Heavy Rain Warning for the region. Rain eased over the course of the week.

Many parts of New Zealand experienced heavy rain and severe gales as Ex Tropical Cyclone Dovi crossed New Zealand. The severe weather caused flooding, slips, downed trees, road closures and disruption to power and cellphone services.

A state of local emergency was declared for the Buller District on 2 February 2022 owing to severe weather expected to cause flooding in Westport.  Westport residents were advised to self-evacuate to friends and family outside Westport if possible and a mandatory evacuation order was issued for parts of Westport on 4 February 2022. The impacts of the severe weather were not as bad as initially expected and evacuated residents were allowed to return home on the morning of 5 February 2022. A second state of local emergency was declared for Buller District on 10 February 2022 owing to further rain impacts on the district. The state of local emergency was lifted at 4:15pm on 21 February and replaced with a notice of local transition period.

A National Advisory: Kermadec Earthquake being assessed was issued at 4:07pm on 29 January 2022 following a M6.6 earthquake (later revised to M6.4). The Advisory was updated to a No tsunami threat at 4:44pm.

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.

Tairāwhiti Civil Defence declared a local state of emergency at 2pm 04 November 2021 for heavy rain causing flooding in the Tairāwhiti region. This was terminated on the following day.

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 state of local emergency was declared for the Wellington City Southern and Eastern wards  on 29 June 2021 owing to a severe sea swell event affecting the Wellington South Coast. Evacuations were required on Breaker Bay Road. The state of local emergency ended on 30 June 2021.

A state of local emergency was declared for Canterbury on 30 May 2021 due to widespread flooding after heavy rain. The declaration was lifted on 3 June 2021. States of local emergency remained in place for Waimakariri, Selwyn and Ashburton districts from 3 June to 10 June 2021.

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 state of local emergency was declared for Napier City on 9 November 2020 due widespread flooding after heavy rain. The declaration was lifted on 13 November 2020.

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.

Visit covid19.govt.nz to get the latest information about Aotearoa New Zealand's response to COVID-19 and what you can do to protect yourself.

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.

At 2:11pm on Monday 9 December 2019, Whakaari White Island erupted. The eruptions were short-lived and generated an ash plume to ~12,000ft above the vent. Forty seven people were on the island at the time of the eruption, resulting in multiple injuries and fatalities. A key focus of the response has been on supporting the victims, their friends and families and on recovery of bodies that remain on or in the vicinity of the island. 

• Links to key information for affected people and for people visiting the area.

A local state of emergency was declared in the Timaru District on 7 December 2019 due to flooding in the Rangitata area. The state of emergency was lifted on 13 December 2019.

Updates and advice about the fire at the New Zealand International Convention Centre on Hobson Street in central Auckland is available on Auckland Council's Our Auckland website:  https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/articles/news/2019/10/fire-in-auckland-central-city/

The beach and marine tsunami warning has been cancelled.

There is no tsunami threat to New Zealand following the magnitude 7.0 Kermadec Islands region earthquake at 10.55am.

Based on current information, the initial assessment is that the earthquake is unlikely to have caused a tsunami that will pose a threat to New Zealand.

There is no tsunami threat to New Zealand following the magnitude 7.7 New Britain Region Papua New Guinea earthquake at 12.58am 15 May.

Based on current information, the initial assessment is that the earthquake is unlikely to have caused a tsunami that will pose a threat to New Zealand.

A local state of emergency was declared in the Westland District at 1745hrs on 26 March 2019 due to severe weather.

For further updates please go to: https://www.facebook.com/emergencywestcoast

A state of local emergency was declared at 8.00am Wednesday 6 February 2019 in the Nelson Tasman Civil Defence Emergency Management Group area due to the effects of the Pigeon Valley Fire.

The state of emergency expired at 8:00 am, 27 February 2019.

A boil water notice was issued on Friday 1 February 2019 for Martinborough Township. An Emergency Mobile Alert was issued on Friday 1 February 2019 and again on Saturday 2 February 2019.

See https://www.swdc.govt.nz/ for more information.

A 7.6M earthquake occured at 5.18pm on Wednesday 5 December 2018 southeast of Loyalty Islands. A no tsunami threat national advisory was issued by the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management.  

A National Advisory: No Tsunami Threat to New Zealand message was issued at 3:39am on 30 October 2018 following a magnitude 6.2 earthquake south-west of Taumarunui, at 3.13 pm New Zealand time.

A National Advisory: No Tsunami Threat to New Zealand message was issued at 4:04am on 7 September 2018 following a magnitude 8.1 earthquake near Fiji at 3:49am New Zealand time.

A National Advisory:No Tsunami Threat to New Zealand message was issued at 11:03am on 22 August 2018 following a magnitude 6.7 earthquake near Vanuatu.

State of emergency declared for Rotorua (5:35pm Sunday 29 April) following flooding in Ngongotaha. Some evacuations and damage to residential properties occured.

The state of emergency expired at 5:35pm Sunday 6 May. 

Cyclone Gita - states of local emergency

Christchurch City Council including Banks Peninsula declared at 1430 hrs on 20 February and terminated at 1130 hrs on 21 February 2018

Buller District declared at 1553 hrs on 20 February and terminated at 1225 hrs on 21 February 2018.

Grey District declared at 1740 hrs on 20 February and terminated at 1000 hrs on 21 February 2018.

Selwyn District declared at 1840 hrs on 20 February 2018 and terminated at 1500 hrs on 21 February 2018.

Westland District declared at 1900 hrs on 20 February and terminated at 0900 hrs on 21 February 2018.

Taranaki CDEM Group area declared at 1950 hrs on 20 February 2018 and terminated at 1200 hrs on 21 February 2018.

Nelson Tasman CDEM Group area declared at 1920 hrs on 20 February and terminated at 1200 hrs on 23 February 2018.

New Plymouth District declared at 1200 hrs on 21 February and terminated at 1100 hrs on 25 February 2018.

Local states of emergency were declared on 1 February 2018 for Dunedin City District and Buller District in response to heavy rainfall, strong winds, and flooding from ex-Tropical Cyclone Fehi. All declarations were terminated by 3 February 2018.