The massive earthquake near Concepcion in Chile last weekend which measured 8.8 on the Richter Scale only serves to remind people in NZ that a similar sized earthquake could hit here too. Chile sits more or less opposite to NZ on the the rim of the Pacific Ocean, and like NZ (and every other country around the ocean) straddles what is known as the 'Pacific Rim of Fire' - volcanoes and earthquake faultlines. The only surprising thing about the Chile earthquake was the relatively low death toll compared to the January earthquake in Haiti. How will NZ fare when the next big one hits?
Details of all NZ earthquakes (and they happen a lot more often than you think) are on the GeoNet website. In general, depending on how deep and close to populated areas they are, earthquakes under 6 on the Richter scale are unlikely to cause damage, between 6 and 7 will cause a limited amount of damage and over 7 will cause a lot of damage.
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