Reviewed by USGS37y ago
M3.9 earthquake in Kermadec Islands region
Saturday, June 24, 1989, 12:40:04 UTC · 29.739°S, 179.147°W
A magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck in Kermadec Islands region on Saturday, June 24, 1989, 12:40:04 UTC, at a depth of 284.1 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 3.9
- Minor · mb
- Depth
- 284 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
11 tons of TNT
That is about 1/1,410 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 45 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
9 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
284 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 827 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.21917 Kermadec Islands, New Zealand EarthquakeMay 1, 1917 · 289 km SE of this epicenter
- 8.01976 Kermadec Islands, New Zealand EarthquakeJanuary 14, 1976 · 206 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.5Kermadec Islands, New ZealandNovember 16, 1917 · 127 km E of this epicenter
- 7.3Kermadec Islands regionSeptember 14, 1959 · 213 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3Kermadec Islands, New ZealandMarch 26, 1963 · 145 km E of this epicenter
- 7.3Kermadec Islands, New ZealandJuly 25, 1968 · 152 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands, New ZealandFebruary 9, 1978 · 201 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands, New ZealandAugust 2, 1941 · 150 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1976M7.9
Kermadec Islands
14 Jan 1976 · 176 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1968M7.3
S Of, Raoul
25 Jul 1968 · 138 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1917M8.0
Kermadec Islands
1 May 1917 · 216 km away
tsunami
- 1976M7.8
Kermadec Islands
14 Jan 1976 · 187 km away · intensity VIII
- 1959M7.7
Kermadec Islands
14 Sep 1959 · 250 km away
- 1978M7.7
S Of
9 Feb 1978 · 201 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.