Reviewed by USGS47y ago
M5.3 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands
Wednesday, April 16, 1980, 20:49:35 UTC · 23.506°S, 177.349°W
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Wednesday, April 16, 1980, 20:49:35 UTC, at a depth of 190.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on April 13, 1980.
- Magnitude
- 5.3
- Moderate · mb
- Depth
- 190 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
19 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Tonga and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
190 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 M5.5 on May 12, 1980. 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 377 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8south of TongaOctober 11, 1975 · 274 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.6south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 18, 1963 · 147 km S of this epicenter
- 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 267 km S of this epicenter
- 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsNovember 24, 1960 · 172 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.1Fiji regionFebruary 25, 1915 · 286 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.1Fiji regionMay 4, 1924 · 290 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.8Tonga regionJune 22, 1977 · 164 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.7south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 28, 1964 · 288 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1977M7.2
Tonga Trench
22 Jun 1977 · 164 km away · intensity IV
1 death$1 million damagetsunami
- 1937M8.1
Fiji Islands
16 Apr 1937 · 226 km away
- 1975M7.8
S Of Tonga
11 Oct 1975 · 274 km away
- 1963M7.5
Tonga Trench
18 Dec 1963 · 163 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.