Magnitude 2.4 Earthquake Strikes Near Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

Sat, 2 Aug 2025, 00:37 | BY: EARTHQUAKEMONITOR

A very shallow magnitude 2.4 earthquake was reported around noon near Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.
According to New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission and Geological Survey (GeoNet), the quake hit on Saturday, August 2nd, 2025, at 12:05 pm local time at a very shallow depth of 5. km. Shallow earthquakes are felt more strongly than deeper ones as they are closer to the surface. Magnitude and other quake parameters can still change in the coming hours as the agency continues to process seismic data.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Rotorua (pop. 65,900) located 1 km from the epicenter, Ohinemutu (pop. 1,100) 4 km away, Ngongotaha (pop. 5,200) 7 km away, and Hamurana (pop. 1000) 11 km away. In Kaharoa (pop. 1,600, 15 km away), Te Puke (pop. 10,500, 39 km away), and Tauranga (pop. 155,200, 50 km away), the quake was probably not felt.

Earthquake data:

I felt this quake

Date & time: Aug 2, 2025 12:05 pm (GMT +12) local time (2 Aug 2025 00:05 GMT)
Magnitude: 2.4
Depth: 5.00 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 38.13°S / 176.25°E (Rotorua District, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand)
Primary data source: GEONET (NZ)