Maruia Falls, Shenandoah Road

The Maruia Falls are located 22km South of Murchison. The Murchison earthquake of 1929 created these Falls by triggering a landslide which diverted the course of the Maruia River westwards, forcing it to cut a new channel over an old river bank. The river eroded gravels below the bank, forming the Falls. Immediately after the earthquake, the falls were only about a metre high, but after a year, the drop was 5 metres. In the early 2000's it was 10 metres.