Factbox: New Zealand's biggest earthquakes 

Source: ONE News

Fiordland was hit by a 7.8 earthquake on Wednesday night adding to a history of strong earthquakes across New Zealand.

Notable New Zealand earthquakes of modern times include the 6.8 magnitude Gisborne quake of  December 20, 2007, which was offshore but caused buildings to collapse in the Gisborne CBD, and 20 years before, Edgecumbe's 6.5 quake on March 2, 1987, which was very destructive because of its shallowness.

The biggest was the 8.2 magnitude quake in Wairarapa in 1855.

A big jolt in Murchison in 1929 left 17 dead.
 
But the deadliest, in 1931, killed more than 250 people in Napier and Hastings.
 
Three people died in the 1968 Inangahua quake which caused widespread damage. 

The top 10 quakes recorded in this country are:

-8.2, Wairarapa, January 23, 1855 - The most severe earthquake to have happened in New Zealand since systematic European colonisation began in 1840.

-7.8, Fiordland, July 16, 2009 - only 12km deep and on the coastline near Milford.

-7.8, Napier, February 3, 1931 - The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake caused the largest loss of life and most extensive damage of any recorded NZ quake.

-7.8, Murchison, June 17, 1929 - The massive rumbling of the 1929 Buller earthquake was heard as far away as New Plymouth.

-7.8, Marlborough, October 16, 1848 - This was the largest in a cluster of earthquakes that hit central NZ that year.

-7.6, Pahiatua, March 5 1934 - Also known as the Horoeka earthquake, it shook the lower North Island and was felt as far away as Auckland and Dunedin.

-7.2, Wairarapa I, June 24, 1942 - This earthquake severely rocked the lower North Island during World War 2, causing extensive damage to local buildings.

-7.1, Inangahua, May 24, 1968 - The Inangahua earthquake killed three people and was felt over much of the country.

-7.1, North Canterbury, September 1, 1888 - the Amuri District was shaken by a large earthquake with severe intensities of ground-shaking

-7.0, Wairarapa II, August 2, 1942 - The shock that struck on August 2 was nearly as severe as the disastrous June 24 earthquake five weeks earlier.