The 1929 Arthur's Pass earthquake occurred at 10:50 pm NZMT on 9 March. The sparsely settled region around Arthur's Pass of the Southern Alps shook for four minutes. Tremors continued almost continuously until midnight and sporadic strong aftershocks were felt for several days.
The earthquake was measured at 7.1 on the Richter scale and the intensity of shaking in the epicentral region has been assessed from historical records as VIII (Severe) on the Modified Mercalli Scale. Intensities of VI (Strong) were observed in Christchurch and Westport. The earthquake occurred on the Poulter Fault, which was not identified and mapped until 2001.
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