Reviewed by USGS66y ago
M7.2 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands
Thursday, November 24, 1960, 06:52:47 UTC · 24.678°S, 176.248°W
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Thursday, November 24, 1960, 06:52:47 UTC, at a depth of 30.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.4 on March 18, 1905.
- Magnitude
- 7.2
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 30 km
- Shallow
- 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
951 kilotons of TNT
That is about 63 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,995 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
81 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Tonga plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
30 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
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 48 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.4south of TongaMarch 18, 1905 · 290 km E of this epicenter
- 7.0south of TongaJanuary 10, 1956 · 219 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.7south of the Fiji IslandsSeptember 8, 1920 · 30 km N of this epicenter
- 6.6south of the Fiji IslandsNovember 23, 1960 · 15 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.5Kermadec Islands regionOctober 8, 1929 · 273 km S of this epicenter
- 6.4283 km SSW of ‘Ohonua, TongaSeptember 30, 1949 · 112 km N of this epicenter
- 6.3south of the Fiji IslandsJune 9, 1931 · 69 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.3Kermadec Islands regionDecember 20, 1956 · 290 km S 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:
- 1956M7.0
Tonga Islands
10 Jan 1956 · 178 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.