Reviewed by USGS49y ago
M4.1 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands
Tuesday, November 15, 1977, 20:52:57 UTC · 26.059°S, 176.226°W
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Tuesday, November 15, 1977, 20:52:57 UTC, at a depth of 313.0 km (deep).
- Magnitude
- 4.1
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 313 km
- Deep
- 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
81 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Pacific plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: deep
313 km
Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.
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 M4.5 on November 16, 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 216 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 · 299 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.8south of TongaOctober 11, 1975 · 171 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.6south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 18, 1963 · 158 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.5Kermadec Islands regionFebruary 27, 1955 · 261 km S of this epicenter
- 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 101 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsNovember 24, 1960 · 154 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2south of TongaOctober 10, 1977 · 85 km E of this epicenter
- 7.0south of TongaJanuary 10, 1956 · 107 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1955M7.8
Kermadec Islands
27 Feb 1955 · 227 km away
- 1975M7.8
S Of Tonga
11 Oct 1975 · 171 km away
- 1959M7.7
Kermadec Islands
14 Sep 1959 · 282 km away
- 1961M7.5
Kermadec Islands
7 Mar 1961 · 255 km away
- 1963M7.5
Tonga Trench
18 Dec 1963 · 145 km away
tsunami
- 1977M7.2
Tonga Trench
10 Oct 1977 · 85 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.