Waihi Village, also known as Little Waihi, is a small Māori community of around 25 households. on the southwestern shores of Lake Taupo

Lake Taupo

Lake Taupo is a lake situated in the North Island of New Zealand. With a surface area of , it is the largest lake by surface area in New Zealand, and the second largest freshwater lake by surface area in geopolitical Oceania after Lake Murray ....

 seven kilometres northwest of Turangi

Turangi

Turangi is a small town on the west bank of the Tongariro River, 50 kilometres south-west of Taupo on the North Island Volcanic Plateau of New Zealand. It was built to accommodate the workers associated with the Tongariro hydro-electric power development project and their families...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It has been the site of three major landslide

Landslide

A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...

s, in 1910, 1846 and around 1780, which killed over 200 people in total. The landslides flowed down the Waimatai Stream from their source above the village in the Hipaua Steaming Cliffs geothermal area.

The village's Catholic Church of Saint Werenfried featured on a 40 cent Christmas stamp in 2002.

The village was evacuated on 29 June 2009 after a series of small earthquakes, which led to fears of a landslide. Residents were allowed to return on 2 July 2009.