Reviewed by USGSNew Zealand105y ago
M6.3 earthquake 86 km NNE of Amberley, New Zealand
Monday, December 25, 1922, 03:33:09 UTC · 42.455°S, 173.201°E
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 86 km NNE of Amberley, New Zealand on Monday, December 25, 1922, 03:33:09 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.8 on August 5, 1917.
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- 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
47 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 99 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
8 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Australian 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 2 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 3 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1848M6.0
Awatere River, Marlborough
18 Oct 1848 · 109 km away
3 deathstsunami
- 1855M8.0
Wellington,Waiouru,Wanganui,Otaki
23 Jan 1855 · 200 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1848M7.9
N.
15 Oct 1848 · 168 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1913M6.8
Tasman Sea
22 Feb 1913 · 158 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1868M7.6
Tasman Sea
18 Oct 1868 · 251 km away
tsunami
- 1922M6.3
Se. New Zealand
25 Dec 1922 · 63 km away · intensity VII
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.