QuakeScout
Magnitude5.2

Reviewed by USGS49y ago

M5.2 earthquake in Kermadec Islands region

Sunday, October 30, 1977, 16:25:58 UTC · 27.188°S, 176.724°W

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck in Kermadec Islands region on Sunday, October 30, 1977, 16:25:58 UTC, at a depth of 47.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.4 on October 10, 1977.

Magnitude
5.2
Moderate · mb
Depth
47 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: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

951 tons of TNT

That is about 1/16 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 2 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

112 km

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

Depth: shallow

47 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 75 km

USGS lists 5 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.3 on October 30, 1977. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M5.2
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 3.7Kermadec Islands region49y ago · 21 km W of this epicenter
  2. 4.1south of the Fiji Islands49y ago · 28 km N of this epicenter
  3. 5.3Kermadec Islands region49y ago · 39 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 4.8Kermadec Islands region49y ago · 49 km SE of this epicenter
  5. 4.7Kermadec Islands region49y ago · 62 km E of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 265 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 · 166 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 7.6south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 18, 1963 · 271 km N of this epicenter
  3. 7.5Kermadec Islands regionFebruary 27, 1955 · 169 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.3Kermadec Islands regionSeptember 14, 1959 · 190 km S of this epicenter
  5. 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 151 km N of this epicenter
  6. 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsNovember 24, 1960 · 283 km N of this epicenter
  7. 7.2Kermadec Islands regionJuly 2, 1974 · 224 km S of this epicenter
  8. 7.2south of TongaOctober 10, 1977 · 198 km NE 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. The most severe:

  1. 1976M7.9

    Kermadec Islands

    14 Jan 1976 · 233 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  2. 1917M8.0

    Kermadec Islands

    1 May 1917 · 225 km away

    tsunami

  3. 1955M7.8

    Kermadec Islands

    27 Feb 1955 · 151 km away

  4. 1959M7.7

    Kermadec Islands

    14 Sep 1959 · 148 km away

  5. 1917M7.5

    S Of

    16 Nov 1917 · 215 km away

    tsunami

  6. 1961M7.5

    Kermadec Islands

    7 Mar 1961 · 160 km away

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

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