Reviewed by USGS13y ago
M4.6 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands
Sunday, May 26, 2013, 18:14:03 UTC · 23.357°S, 176.962°W
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Sunday, May 26, 2013, 18:14:03 UTC, at a depth of 132.7 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on May 25, 2013.
- Magnitude
- 4.6
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 133 km
- Intermediate
- 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
120 tons of TNT
That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
10 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Tonga and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
133 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.5 on June 1, 2013. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,360 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8south of TongaOctober 11, 1975 · 253 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.8192 km WSW of Haveluloto, TongaOctober 14, 1997 · 141 km N of this epicenter
- 7.8south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 9, 2007 · 299 km S of this epicenter
- 7.6south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 18, 1963 · 155 km S of this epicenter
- 7.6191 km S of ‘Ohonua, TongaMarch 19, 2009 · 238 km E of this epicenter
- 7.4292 km SW of Vaini, TongaMay 23, 2013 · 48 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 285 km S of this epicenter
- 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsNovember 24, 1960 · 164 km SE 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 1 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1977M7.2
Tonga Trench
22 Jun 1977 · 121 km away · intensity IV
1 death$1 million damagetsunami
- 1937M8.1
Fiji Islands
16 Apr 1937 · 207 km away
- 1975M7.8
S Of Tonga
11 Oct 1975 · 253 km away
- 2007M7.8
Kermadec Islands
9 Dec 2007 · 299 km away
tsunami
- 1982M7.7
Tonga Trench
19 Dec 1982 · 141 km away
tsunami
- 1997M7.7
Tonga Islands
14 Oct 1997 · 141 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.