Reviewed by USGS58y ago
M7.2 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands
Monday, February 10, 1969, 22:58:06 UTC · 22.797°S, 178.820°E
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Monday, February 10, 1969, 22:58:06 UTC, at a depth of 660.0 km (deep). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.2 on October 9, 1967.
- Magnitude
- 7.2
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 660 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 200 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
1.0 megatons of TNT
That is about 68 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 2,138 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
330 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Australian and Conway Reef plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: deep
660 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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.9 on February 10, 1969. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 20 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.3Fiji regionMay 25, 1944 · 225 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2Fiji regionOctober 9, 1967 · 273 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.1Fiji regionFebruary 25, 1915 · 220 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.8Fiji regionJuly 20, 1939 · 283 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.7south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 28, 1964 · 169 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.7Fiji regionJanuary 24, 1969 · 201 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.7Fiji regionMarch 17, 1966 · 283 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.5Fiji regionSeptember 10, 1962 · 276 km NE of this epicenter