Seddon

Geography

Seddon has been close to the epicentres of several significant earthquakes. On the morning of 16 October 1848, Marlborough was struck by a damaging earthquake later estimated to be between magnitude 7.4 and 7.7. The epicentre of this earthquake was 45 km southeast of Seddon. On 23 April 1966, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake with an epicentre in Cook Strait, 40 km east of Seddon was most strongly felt in the town, damaging the chimney on almost every house in town. In July and August 2013 Seddon was the closest settlement to the epicentres of a doublet earthquake event. First, in late July, a series of sizeable earthquakes struck the region over a period of a few days being felt strongly in Blenheim, Wellington and the rest of Central New Zealand, the strongest being a magnitude 6.5 and having its epicentre in Cook Strait. Then on 16 August 2013 a magnitude 6.6 earthquake with its epicentre under Lake Grassmere struck about 2:30 PM and was followed by a series of aftershocks over the next few hours, one of which was above magnitude 6 and several others above magnitude 5. This came just a few years after devastating earthquakes affected Christchurch, 285 km away.

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,724
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,227
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,901
• Silver-eye

  Zosterops lateralis (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  3,863
• European Goldfinch

  Carduelis carduelis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,708
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,704
• Song Thrush

  Turdus philomelos C.L.Brehm, 1831 · Aves
  2,611
• Kelp Gull

  Larus dominicanus M.H.K.Lichtenstein, 1823 · Aves
  2,583

Most recent

• M 4.5 — 2026-06-16
  32 km W of Titahi Bay, New Zealand
• M 4.2 — 2026-06-12
  27 km E of Marybank, New Zealand
• M 4.2 — 2026-06-12
  12 km NNW of Renwick, New Zealand
• M 4.5 — 2026-06-02
  28 km W of Titahi Bay, New Zealand
• M 4.5 — 2026-05-29
  46 km ESE of Witherlea, New Zealand
• M 4.3 — 2026-05-16
  36 km SE of Witherlea, New Zealand