The 1929 Arthur's Pass earthquake occurred at 10:50 pm NZMT on 9 March.

The sparsely settled region around Arthur's Pass of the Southern Alps shook for four minutes.

[3] Numerous landslides were triggered, damaging the Midland Railway and blocking roads.

The highway connecting Canterbury and the West Coast via Arthur's Pass was closed for several months.

Two years after the earthquake, trampers in the Otahake Valley discovered that a 900m high section of the side of a mountain had collapsed, blocking the valley and sending debris 5 km downstream.