The 2016 Kaikoura earthquake in New Zealand had a magnitude of 7.8. It began shortly after midnight on November 14, 2016, local time, near Culverden in the South Island, and its rupture sequence lasted roughly two minutes.
This was an unusually complex earthquake because movement spread across many faults rather than remaining on one simple fault line. Later studies identified surface ruptures on at least 20 faults, dramatically reshaping parts of the landscape. The earthquake also generated a tsunami and triggered thousands of landslides, isolating communities and damaging roads, railways, bridges, and buildings.
The magnitude was initially reported as 7.5 before being revised to 7.8 as scientists analyzed the full, multi-fault rupture. That revision explains why older news reports may show a different number. The earthquake killed two people and caused billions of dollars in damage, making it one of New Zealand's most significant modern natural disasters.