Reviewed by USGS94y ago
M6.0 earthquake east of the North Island of New Zealand
Sunday, May 21, 1933, 08:13:26 UTC · 36.701°S, 179.216°W
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck east of the North Island of New Zealand on Sunday, May 21, 1933, 08:13:26 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.1 on June 22, 1931.
- Magnitude
- 6.0
- Strong · 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
17 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 36 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
41 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 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 9 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.748 km ENE of Opotiki, New ZealandOctober 6, 1914 · 295 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.4east of the North Island of New ZealandSeptember 22, 1930 · 124 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.4224 km E of Gisborne, New ZealandOctober 28, 1914 · 229 km S of this epicenter
- 6.3south of the Kermadec IslandsJuly 18, 1927 · 283 km N of this epicenter
- 6.254 km NNE of Gisborne, New ZealandFebruary 25, 1927 · 277 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.2east of the North Island of New ZealandSeptember 25, 1930 · 157 km N of this epicenter
- 6.1180 km ENE of Gisborne, New ZealandJune 22, 1931 · 187 km S of this epicenter
- 5.7144 km E of Gisborne, New ZealandMay 10, 1929 · 264 km S 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, which together caused about 1 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1914
North Island
6 Oct 1914 · 259 km away · intensity VIII
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1880M7.0
Gisborne
8 Sep 1880 · 293 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.