Reviewed by USGS63y ago
M5.5 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands
Friday, March 27, 1964, 20:22:11 UTC · 23.704°S, 179.985°E
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Friday, March 27, 1964, 20:22:11 UTC, at a depth of 529.0 km (deep). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.2 on October 7, 1963.
- Magnitude
- 5.5
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 529 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
3 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/5 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 6 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
268 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
529 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 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 7 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.3Fiji regionMay 25, 1944 · 244 km N of this epicenter
- 7.1Fiji regionFebruary 25, 1915 · 228 km N of this epicenter
- 6.5Fiji regionSeptember 10, 1962 · 291 km N of this epicenter
- 6.4south of the Fiji IslandsSeptember 8, 1963 · 13 km N of this epicenter
- 6.4Fiji regionSeptember 15, 1959 · 220 km N of this epicenter
- 6.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 15, 1959 · 207 km S of this epicenter
- 6.2south of the Fiji IslandsOctober 7, 1963 · 11 km NE 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 · 215 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.