Reviewed by USGS72y ago
M7.5 earthquake in Kermadec Islands region
Sunday, February 27, 1955, 20:43:27 UTC · 28.336°S, 175.599°W
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck in Kermadec Islands region on Sunday, February 27, 1955, 20:43:27 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.5
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 15 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
2.9 megatons of TNT
That is about 191 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 6,026 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
29 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Pacific plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
15 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 61 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.5Kermadec Islands, New ZealandNovember 16, 1917 · 275 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands, New ZealandAugust 2, 1941 · 252 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.1Kermadec Islands, New ZealandSeptember 16, 1941 · 236 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0Kermadec Islands, New ZealandSeptember 14, 1943 · 289 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.0Kermadec Islands, New ZealandJune 13, 1917 · 230 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.8south of TongaApril 19, 1905 · 298 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.7Kermadec Islands regionNovember 24, 1941 · 200 km W of this epicenter
- 6.7Kermadec Islands regionDecember 12, 1928 · 68 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1917M8.0
Kermadec Islands
1 May 1917 · 167 km away
tsunami
- 1955M7.8
Kermadec Islands
27 Feb 1955 · 39 km away
- 1943M7.6
S Of
14 Sep 1943 · 230 km away
- 1905M7.5
Kermadec Islands
18 Mar 1905 · 272 km away
- 1917M7.5
S Of
16 Nov 1917 · 200 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.