QuakeScout
Magnitude5.3

Reviewed by USGS51y ago

M5.3 earthquake in Kermadec Islands region

Friday, February 27, 1976, 11:00:58 UTC · 28.142°S, 177.581°W

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck in Kermadec Islands region on Friday, February 27, 1976, 11:00:58 UTC, at a depth of 146.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on February 18, 1976.

Magnitude
5.3
Moderate · mb
Depth
146 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: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

1 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/11 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 3 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

89 km

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

Depth: intermediate

146 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 75 km

USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.3 on February 29, 1976. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M5.3
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 5.3Kermadec Islands region51y ago · 28 km E of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

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

  1. 8.01976 Kermadec Islands, New Zealand EarthquakeJanuary 14, 1976 · 33 km S of this epicenter
  2. 7.5Kermadec Islands regionFebruary 27, 1955 · 195 km E of this epicenter
  3. 7.5Kermadec Islands, New ZealandNovember 16, 1917 · 191 km S of this epicenter
  4. 7.3Kermadec Islands regionSeptember 14, 1959 · 86 km SE of this epicenter
  5. 7.3Kermadec Islands, New ZealandMarch 26, 1963 · 206 km S of this epicenter
  6. 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 251 km N of this epicenter
  7. 7.2Kermadec Islands regionJuly 2, 1974 · 190 km SE of this epicenter
  8. 7.2Kermadec Islands, New ZealandAugust 2, 1941 · 182 km S of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1976M7.9

    Kermadec Islands

    14 Jan 1976 · 117 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  2. 1917M8.0

    Kermadec Islands

    1 May 1917 · 131 km away

    tsunami

  3. 1955M7.8

    Kermadec Islands

    27 Feb 1955 · 205 km away

  4. 1976M7.8

    Kermadec Islands

    14 Jan 1976 · 201 km away · intensity VIII

  5. 1959M7.7

    Kermadec Islands

    14 Sep 1959 · 69 km away

  6. 1943M7.6

    S Of

    14 Sep 1943 · 214 km away

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

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