Moderate Magnitude 4.2 Quake Hits 31 km Southwest of Queenstown, New Zealand in the Evening

Sat, 12 Jul 2025, 09:10 | BY: EARTHQUAKEMONITOR

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake near Queenstown, Queenstown-Lakes District, Otago, New Zealand, was reported only 9 minutes ago by New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission and Geological Survey (GeoNet), considered the main national agency that monitors seismic activity in New Zealand. The earthquake occurred at a very shallow depth of 5. km beneath the epicenter in the evening on Saturday, July 12th, 2025, at 8:59 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which listed it as a magnitude 4.2 earthquake as well.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Glenorchy (pop. 320) located 30 km from the epicenter, Queenstown (pop. 10,400) 31 km away, Arthurs Point (pop. 1,400) 33 km away, and Frankton (pop. 3,800) 36 km away.
Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Arrowtown (pop. 2,200) located 45 km from the epicenter, Te Anau (pop. 3,000) 56 km away, Cromwell (pop. 5,200) 72 km away, and Wanaka (pop. 12,400) 82 km away.

Earthquake data:

I felt this quake

Date & time: Jul 12, 2025 08:59 pm (GMT +12) local time (12 Jul 2025 08:59 GMT)
Magnitude: 4.2
Depth: 5.00 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 45.11°S / 168.29°E (Queenstown-Lakes, Otago, New Zealand)
Primary data source: GEONET (NZ)