QuakeScout
Magnitude4.5

Reviewed by USGS7y ago

M4.5 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands

Friday, June 21, 2019, 10:25:50 UTC · 22.232°S, 179.753°W

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Friday, June 21, 2019, 10:25:50 UTC, at a depth of 595.2 km (deep). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.1 on June 20, 2019.

Magnitude
4.5
Light · mb
Depth
595 km
Deep
Felt reports
0
Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking
—
No ShakeMap
PAGER alert
None
Not issued
Tsunami
No flag
USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

85 tons of TNT

That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

303 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Tonga and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: deep

595 km

Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.

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 50 km

USGS lists 5 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.8 on July 3, 2019. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M5M61h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.5
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.5south of the Fiji Islands7y ago · 41 km E of this epicenter
  2. 4.5south of the Fiji Islands7y ago · 34 km E of this epicenter
  3. 5.8south of the Fiji Islands7y ago · 27 km NE of this epicenter
  4. 4.4south of the Fiji Islands7y ago · 10 km NE of this epicenter
  5. 4.4south of the Fiji Islands7y ago · 27 km SE of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,372 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.7south of the Fiji IslandsAugust 19, 2002 · 257 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 7.7Fiji regionAugust 19, 2002 · 64 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.4Fiji regionSeptember 28, 1957 · 238 km NE of this epicenter
  4. 7.4Fiji regionAugust 5, 1996 · 227 km NE of this epicenter
  5. 7.4292 km SW of Vaini, TongaMay 23, 2013 · 273 km E of this epicenter
  6. 7.3Fiji regionMay 25, 1944 · 80 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 7.3Fiji regionSeptember 15, 2011 · 73 km N of this epicenter
  8. 7.2Fiji regionOctober 9, 1967 · 131 km NE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1937M8.1

    Fiji Islands

    16 Apr 1937 · 295 km away

  2. 2002M7.7

    Fiji Islands

    19 Aug 2002 · 64 km away

  3. 2002M7.7

    Fiji Islands

    19 Aug 2002 · 257 km away

  4. 1957M7.5

    Fiji Islands

    28 Sep 1957 · 241 km away

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

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