The Safety Almanac
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

The thin line marks today, 29 September 2026.

Disaster

New Zealand ShakeOut

New Zealand ShakeOut is the country's national earthquake drill and tsunami hikoi, held on one announced day in October. At the set minute, households, schools, workplaces and hospitals Drop, Cover and Hold for sixty seconds, and anyone inside a tsunami evacuation zone walks or cycles to high ground. Signing up is free, and the point is practice: doing it once a year makes the right move automatic.

2026

21 October 2026

Confirmed

Dates confirmed from the organiser’s announcement on 19 September 2026.

Organiser: National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)

Read the organiser’s pageAdd to your calendarJSON

When it falls

Dates are announced by the organiser each year.

Also known as: ShakeOut, Whakahaumaru Aotearoa, National earthquake drill and tsunami hikoi.

Where it came from

New Zealand held its first national ShakeOut on 26 September 2012, modelled on the California ShakeOut that began in 2008, and repeated it in 2015 and 2018 before making it an annual exercise. It is run by the National Emergency Management Agency with the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tu Ake and MetService. Schools, kura, kohanga reo and early childhood centres have made up more than half the participants. The drill is Drop, Cover and Hold for sixty seconds, followed by a tsunami hikoi to high ground for anyone in an evacuation zone.

First observed in 2012.

The organiser’s account of the day

How organisations mark it

  • Register your household, school or organisation at getready.govt.nz and put the drill time in the calendar.
  • Drop, Cover and Hold for a full sixty seconds, under a table and away from windows.
  • If you are in a tsunami evacuation zone, walk or bike the hikoi route to high ground and time how long it takes.
  • Use the drill to check your grab bag, stored water and household emergency plan, and replace what is missing.
  • Debrief afterwards: who could not hear the signal, which route was blocked, who needed help to move.

Why this exists

Disaster & climate

2 milliondeaths from weather, climate and water-related disasters, 1970 to 2021

Deaths from weather, climate and water-related hazards, 1970–2021 — worldwide, 2023. Source: World Meteorological Organization, Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water-related Hazards (1970–2021) (2023).

“The death toll is at 2 million, with 90% are in developing countries”

More figures for this hazard

ObservanceNextKindWhereHazards
World Tsunami Awareness Day5 November 2026 ExpectedDayWorldwideDisasterWater
International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction13 October 2026 ConfirmedDayWorldwideDisaster
National Preparedness Month1–30 September 2026 ConfirmedMonthUnited StatesDisaster

Sources

  1. New Zealand ShakeOut — GetReady.govt.nz (National Emergency Management Agency) — getready.govt.nz, read 19 September 2026.
  2. New Zealand ShakeOut — GetReady.govt.nz, Wayback capture of 12 October 2025 — web.archive.org, read 19 September 2026.
  3. Students set to ShakeOut as nationwide earthquake drill launched — Beehive.govt.nz, Wayback capture of 23 September 2019 — web.archive.org, read 19 September 2026.
  4. Get Ready — GetReady.govt.nz home page — getready.govt.nz, read 19 September 2026.

Page last confirmed against the organiser on 19 September 2026.