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Story: Waterfalls

Maruia Falls

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Maruia Falls

Immediately after the 1929 Murchison earthquake, the falls over the river bank were only about a metre high. But after a year, the gravels downstream had been eroded and the water fell 5 metres. By 1986, as shown here, it had dropped about 10 metres.

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GNS Science

Reference: CN7203/3

by Lloyd Homer

Permission of GNS Science must be obtained before any use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Waterfalls – Causes of waterfalls, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/11759/maruia-falls (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 1 March 2009.