Reviewed by USGS87y ago
M6.0 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands
Monday, September 30, 1940, 14:10:34 UTC · 26.173°S, 178.382°W
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Monday, September 30, 1940, 14:10:34 UTC, at a depth of 65.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.1 on September 30, 1940.
- Magnitude
- 6.0
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 65 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
14 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 30 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
52 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: shallow
65 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 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 14 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.7south of the Fiji IslandsSeptember 8, 1920 · 282 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.7Kermadec Islands regionMay 4, 1917 · 248 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.5Kermadec Islands regionOctober 8, 1929 · 195 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.4Kermadec Islands regionOctober 19, 1928 · 206 km S of this epicenter
- 6.3south of the Fiji IslandsJune 9, 1931 · 266 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.3Kermadec Islands regionMay 2, 1917 · 228 km S of this epicenter
- 6.2Kermadec Islands regionJune 6, 1927 · 298 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.2Kermadec Islands regionMarch 23, 1939 · 266 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:
- 1932M7.9
Kermadec Islands
26 May 1932 · 253 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.