Reviewed by USGS49y ago
M4.1 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands
Friday, November 11, 1977, 00:24:20 UTC · 26.936°S, 176.774°W
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Friday, November 11, 1977, 00:24:20 UTC, at a depth of 197.0 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.1
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 197 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
21 tons of TNT
That is about 1/707 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 22 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
124 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: intermediate
197 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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M3.7 on November 18, 1977. 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 258 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.01976 Kermadec Islands, New Zealand EarthquakeJanuary 14, 1976 · 187 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.8south of TongaOctober 11, 1975 · 281 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.6south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 18, 1963 · 243 km N of this epicenter
- 7.5Kermadec Islands regionFebruary 27, 1955 · 194 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.3Kermadec Islands regionSeptember 14, 1959 · 216 km S of this epicenter
- 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 123 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsNovember 24, 1960 · 257 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands regionJuly 2, 1974 · 252 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 10 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1976M7.9
Kermadec Islands
14 Jan 1976 · 259 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1917M8.0
Kermadec Islands
1 May 1917 · 253 km away
tsunami
- 1955M7.8
Kermadec Islands
27 Feb 1955 · 173 km away
- 1975M7.8
S Of Tonga
11 Oct 1975 · 281 km away
- 1959M7.7
Kermadec Islands
14 Sep 1959 · 175 km away
- 1917M7.5
S Of
16 Nov 1917 · 240 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.