Reviewed by USGS44y ago
M5.0 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands
Tuesday, December 28, 1982, 21:51:09 UTC · 24.348°S, 177.149°W
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Tuesday, December 28, 1982, 21:51:09 UTC, at a depth of 135.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.6 on December 28, 1982.
- Magnitude
- 5.0
- Moderate · mb
- Depth
- 135 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
477 tons of TNT
That is about 1/32 of the Hiroshima bomb. Each whole step in magnitude is about 32 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
30 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Tonga plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
135 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 428 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 · 214 km E of this epicenter
- 7.6south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 18, 1963 · 54 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 174 km S of this epicenter
- 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsNovember 24, 1960 · 98 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2south of TongaOctober 10, 1977 · 243 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2south of TongaDecember 19, 1982 · 132 km E of this epicenter
- 6.8south of the Fiji IslandsJuly 4, 1963 · 246 km S of this epicenter
- 6.8Tonga regionJune 22, 1977 · 207 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 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 · 207 km away · intensity IV
1 death$1 million damagetsunami
- 1975M7.8
S Of Tonga
11 Oct 1975 · 214 km away
- 1982M7.7
Tonga Trench
19 Dec 1982 · 132 km away
tsunami
- 1963M7.5
Tonga Trench
18 Dec 1963 · 75 km away
tsunami
- 1977M7.2
Tonga Trench
10 Oct 1977 · 243 km away
tsunami
- 1956M7.0
Tonga Islands
10 Jan 1956 · 266 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.