Reviewed by USGSNew Zealand97y ago
M6.2 earthquake 174 km ESE of Hastings, New Zealand
Wednesday, February 11, 1931, 17:02:29 UTC · 40.444°S, 178.609°E
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 174 km ESE of Hastings, New Zealand on Wednesday, February 11, 1931, 17:02:29 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.4 on February 8, 1931.
- Magnitude
- 6.2
- 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
25 kilotons of TNT
That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 53 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
4 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 14 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.447 km WSW of Hastings, New ZealandFebruary 2, 1931 · 210 km W of this epicenter
- 6.9144 km SE of Waipawa, New ZealandAugust 8, 1904 · 240 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.856 km SSE of Castlepoint, New ZealandAugust 5, 1917 · 209 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.75 km SSW of Hastings, New ZealandJune 28, 1921 · 173 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.748 km ENE of Opotiki, New ZealandOctober 6, 1914 · 289 km N of this epicenter
- 6.4off the east coast of the North Island of New ZealandFebruary 8, 1931 · 137 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.4224 km E of Gisborne, New ZealandOctober 28, 1914 · 253 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.384 km SSE of Castlepoint, New ZealandSeptember 12, 1919 · 209 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 9 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 262 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1931M7.7
Hawke Bay
2 Feb 1931 · 232 km away · intensity IX
261 deaths$25 million damagetsunami
- 1914
North Island
6 Oct 1914 · 296 km away · intensity VIII
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1904M7.5
E Of North Island
8 Aug 1904 · 136 km away
tsunami
- 1931M7.1
N
13 Feb 1931 · 173 km away
tsunami
- 1880M7.0
Gisborne
8 Sep 1880 · 178 km away
tsunami
- 1895M6.0
Taupo
18 Aug 1895 · 289 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.