Reviewed by USGS55y ago
M7.3 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands
Thursday, March 30, 1972, 05:34:53 UTC · 25.804°S, 179.678°E
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Thursday, March 30, 1972, 05:34:53 UTC, at a depth of 501.5 km (deep). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.3
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 502 km
- Deep
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
1.1 megatons of TNT
That is about 75 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 2,371 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
250 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: deep
502 km
Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 200 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 22 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.8south of the Fiji IslandsJuly 4, 1963 · 256 km E of this epicenter
- 6.5south of the Fiji IslandsFebruary 15, 1971 · 141 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.5south of the Fiji IslandsApril 28, 1911 · 177 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.5south of the Fiji IslandsNovember 20, 1971 · 270 km N of this epicenter
- 6.4south of the Fiji IslandsSeptember 8, 1963 · 249 km N of this epicenter
- 6.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 15, 1959 · 36 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.2south of the Fiji IslandsOctober 7, 1963 · 246 km N of this epicenter
- 6.1south of the Fiji IslandsJuly 21, 1964 · 248 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1932M7.9
Kermadec Islands
26 May 1932 · 59 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.