4.1 quake near White Island

An earthquake registering 4.1 on the Richter scale has hit off the Bay of Plenty coast, near White Island this morning.

The earthquake, which struck just after 10am, hit 30 km north-east of White Island at a depth of 16km, according to GeoNet.


This morning's quake was 30km north-east of White Island.

Described as a moderate intensity quake, it was felt in a number of locations across the region, including Tauranga, Opotiki and Cooks Beach.

This morning's quake follows the 4.4 Magnitude quake 115km North of White Island in the early hours of Sunday morning and the 4.7 magnitude shake last Tuesday.

There were seven earthquakes in the vicinity of the volcano last week. Five of them were in the two-to-three magnitude range on the logarithmic Richter scale, with the other two even smaller.

Last week's 4.4 and 4.7 quakes were both some distance north of White Island.

There have been 32 earthquakes in the volcano's vicinity in the last month, with 26 of them being between two-to-three magnitude, and the others being less than two.

Last year there were 13 earthquakes around about the same magnitude as today's.

White Island's volcanic alert level remains at one - a level that advises of ‘minor volcanic unrest'.


Geonet's White Island map showing earthquakes within 40km of the surface over the last three months.

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