Reviewed by USGS47y ago
M5.5 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands
Monday, May 12, 1980, 14:23:45 UTC · 23.625°S, 177.194°W
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Monday, May 12, 1980, 14:23:45 UTC, at a depth of 170.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on April 13, 1980.
- Magnitude
- 5.5
- Moderate · mb
- Depth
- 170 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
3 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/6 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 6 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
1 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
170 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 340 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 · 253 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.6south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 18, 1963 · 130 km S of this epicenter
- 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 254 km S of this epicenter
- 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsNovember 24, 1960 · 151 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.8Tonga regionJune 22, 1977 · 156 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.7south of the Fiji IslandsSeptember 8, 1920 · 123 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.7south of the Fiji IslandsAugust 12, 1967 · 122 km S of this epicenter
- 6.7south of the Fiji IslandsApril 13, 1980 · 21 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 · 156 km away · intensity IV
1 death$1 million damagetsunami
- 1937M8.1
Fiji Islands
16 Apr 1937 · 237 km away
- 1975M7.8
S Of Tonga
11 Oct 1975 · 253 km away
- 1963M7.5
Tonga Trench
18 Dec 1963 · 144 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.