Reviewed by USGSNew Zealand86y ago
M7.1 earthquake in Kermadec Islands, New Zealand
Tuesday, September 16, 1941, 21:39:15 UTC · 29.115°S, 177.851°W
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck in Kermadec Islands, New Zealand on Tuesday, September 16, 1941, 21:39:15 UTC, at a depth of 70.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.2 on August 2, 1941.
- Magnitude
- 7.1
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 70 km
- Intermediate
- 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
674 kilotons of TNT
That is about 45 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,413 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
93 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
70 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 46 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.21917 Kermadec Islands, New Zealand EarthquakeMay 1, 1917 · 258 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5Kermadec Islands, New ZealandNovember 16, 1917 · 82 km S of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands, New ZealandAugust 2, 1941 · 78 km S of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands, New ZealandApril 17, 1919 · 163 km S of this epicenter
- 7.1Kermadec Islands, New ZealandJune 29, 1910 · 212 km S of this epicenter
- 7.0Kermadec Islands, New ZealandJune 13, 1917 · 23 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.9Kermadec Islands, New ZealandJuly 19, 1911 · 83 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.7Kermadec Islands regionDecember 12, 1928 · 185 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1917M8.0
Kermadec Islands
1 May 1917 · 83 km away
tsunami
- 1917M7.5
S Of
16 Nov 1917 · 36 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.