Yesterday I was asked how many people died in the huge Wellington earthquake of 1855. I had no idea so looked it up online:
The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake affected much of the Cook Strait area of New Zealand, In Wellington, close to the epicentre, the shaking lasted for at least 50 seconds. The magnitude of the earthquake has been estimated as 8.2, the most powerful ever recorded in New Zealand. There were 9 deaths.
But don't worry too much, it's estimated that earthquakes this big happen in NZ less than once every 1000 years, and even by that standard, this one was unusually large.
Lambton Quay before the earthquake (around 1854):
