Reviewed by USGS73y ago
M6.8 earthquake off the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand
Tuesday, January 12, 1954, 14:20:33 UTC · 48.691°S, 164.903°E
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck off the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand on Tuesday, January 12, 1954, 14:20:33 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.5 on September 1, 1945.
- Magnitude
- 6.8
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 35 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
201 kilotons of TNT
That is about 13 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 422 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
51 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
35 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 100 km
USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.7 on January 13, 1954. 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 11 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.5173 km WSW of Riverton, New ZealandSeptember 1, 1945 · 205 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.0Auckland Islands, New Zealand regionFebruary 22, 1936 · 74 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.7Auckland Islands, New Zealand regionNovember 3, 1918 · 142 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.5248 km SW of Bluff, New ZealandFebruary 15, 1922 · 120 km E of this epicenter
- 6.5off the west coast of the South Island of New ZealandJanuary 12, 1954 · 18 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.5Auckland Islands, New Zealand regionAugust 5, 1950 · 80 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.5off the west coast of the South Island of New ZealandFebruary 22, 1936 · 66 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.4Auckland Islands, New Zealand regionFebruary 5, 1950 · 54 km SW 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:
- 1926M7.9
Macquarie Island: North Of
3 Oct 1926 · 288 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.