Reviewed by USGS30y ago
M5.0 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands
Wednesday, April 17, 1996, 14:14:58 UTC · 24.249°S, 176.855°W
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Wednesday, April 17, 1996, 14:14:58 UTC, at a depth of 100.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.2 on April 16, 1996.
- Magnitude
- 5.0
- Moderate · mb
- Depth
- 100 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
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
24 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
100 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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.9 on April 18, 1996. 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 733 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 · 190 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.6south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 18, 1963 · 56 km S of this epicenter
- 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 188 km S of this epicenter
- 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsNovember 24, 1960 · 78 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2south of TongaOctober 10, 1977 · 231 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsApril 16, 1996 · 28 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsJuly 11, 1992 · 253 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.2157 km WSW of Haveluloto, TongaOctober 30, 1986 · 284 km N 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 · 181 km away · intensity IV
1 death$1 million damagetsunami
- 1975M7.8
S Of Tonga
11 Oct 1975 · 190 km away
- 1982M7.7
Tonga Trench
19 Dec 1982 · 101 km away
tsunami
- 1963M7.5
Tonga Trench
18 Dec 1963 · 66 km away
tsunami
- 1977M7.2
Tonga Trench
10 Oct 1977 · 231 km away
tsunami
- 1956M7.0
Tonga Islands
10 Jan 1956 · 254 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.