QuakeScout
Magnitude4.4

Reviewed by USGS40y ago

M4.4 earthquake in Kermadec Islands region

Thursday, February 12, 1987, 05:01:44 UTC · 27.717°S, 176.976°W

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck in Kermadec Islands region on Thursday, February 12, 1987, 05:01:44 UTC, at a depth of 113.6 km (intermediate).

Magnitude
4.4
Light · mb
Depth
114 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

60 tons of TNT

That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

117 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Pacific plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: intermediate

114 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 M5.2 on February 25, 1987. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.4
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 5.2Kermadec Islands region40y ago · 24 km SW of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 694 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.01976 Kermadec Islands, New Zealand EarthquakeJanuary 14, 1976 · 103 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 7.7Kermadec Islands regionOctober 20, 1986 · 75 km SE of this epicenter
  3. 7.5Kermadec Islands regionFebruary 27, 1955 · 152 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.5Kermadec Islands, New ZealandNovember 16, 1917 · 252 km S of this epicenter
  5. 7.3Kermadec Islands regionSeptember 14, 1959 · 127 km S of this epicenter
  6. 7.3Kermadec Islands, New ZealandMarch 26, 1963 · 262 km S of this epicenter
  7. 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 203 km N of this epicenter
  8. 7.2Kermadec Islands regionJuly 2, 1974 · 182 km SE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1986M8.1

    Raoul

    20 Oct 1986 · 75 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  2. 1976M7.9

    Kermadec Islands

    14 Jan 1976 · 170 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  3. 1917M8.0

    Kermadec Islands

    1 May 1917 · 165 km away

    tsunami

  4. 1955M7.8

    Kermadec Islands

    27 Feb 1955 · 148 km away

  5. 1976M7.8

    Kermadec Islands

    14 Jan 1976 · 247 km away · intensity VIII

  6. 1959M7.7

    Kermadec Islands

    14 Sep 1959 · 87 km away

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

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