QuakeScout
Magnitude4.9

Reviewed by USGS13y ago

M4.9 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands

Wednesday, June 5, 2013, 04:39:50 UTC · 24.204°S, 176.369°W

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Wednesday, June 5, 2013, 04:39:50 UTC, at a depth of 45.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on June 1, 2013.

Magnitude
4.9
Light · mb
Depth
45 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

338 tons of TNT

That is about 1/45 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 1 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

28 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Tonga plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

45 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 50 km

USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.9 on June 8, 2013. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.9
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.9south of the Fiji Islands13y ago · 33 km SE of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,110 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.8south of TongaOctober 11, 1975 · 148 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 7.8192 km WSW of Haveluloto, TongaOctober 14, 1997 · 237 km N of this epicenter
  3. 7.8south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 9, 2007 · 230 km SW of this epicenter
  4. 7.6south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 18, 1963 · 77 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 7.6191 km S of ‘Ohonua, TongaMarch 19, 2009 · 217 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 7.4292 km SW of Vaini, TongaMay 23, 2013 · 159 km NW of this epicenter
  7. 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 208 km SW of this epicenter
  8. 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsNovember 24, 1960 · 54 km S 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:

  1. 1977M7.2

    Tonga Trench

    22 Jun 1977 · 155 km away · intensity IV

    1 death$1 million damagetsunami

  2. 1975M7.8

    S Of Tonga

    11 Oct 1975 · 148 km away

  3. 2007M7.8

    Kermadec Islands

    9 Dec 2007 · 230 km away

    tsunami

  4. 1982M7.7

    Tonga Trench

    19 Dec 1982 · 52 km away

    tsunami

  5. 1997M7.7

    Tonga Islands

    14 Oct 1997 · 237 km away

    tsunami

  6. 2009M7.6

    Tonga Islands

    19 Mar 2009 · 217 km away

    tsunami

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

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