1942_Wairarapa_earthquakes

Two 1942 Wairarapa earthquakes shook the lower North Island of New Zealand; on 24 June and 2 August. They were large and shallow with epicentres close together east of Masterton in the Wairarapa region. The June earthquake was sometimes referred to as the Masterton earthquake but both caused damage over a wide area, from Dannevirke and Eketāhuna over to Whanganui and down to Ōtaki and Wellington. There was one death in Wellington, on 24 June.The August earthquake can be regarded as an aftershock of the June earthquake. Both earthquakes were preceded by smaller foreshocks. As the second quake was slightly less in magnitude than the first, they were not an earthquake doublet where the second quake is slightly larger. The August earthquake was considerably deeper (40 km, not 12 km), though another source gives the depths as 43 km and 15 km. There was another large aftershock on 2 December and one in February 1943.