Reviewed by USGS30y ago
M4.4 earthquake in Kermadec Islands region
Tuesday, December 17, 1996, 18:24:15 UTC · 30.869°S, 179.292°W
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck in Kermadec Islands region on Tuesday, December 17, 1996, 18:24:15 UTC, at a depth of 200.0 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 200 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
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
6 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
200 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 1,114 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 · 254 km E of this epicenter
- 7.5Kermadec Islands, New ZealandNovember 16, 1917 · 180 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3Kermadec Islands, New ZealandMarch 26, 1963 · 183 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3Kermadec Islands, New ZealandJuly 25, 1968 · 110 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands, New ZealandFebruary 9, 1978 · 186 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands, New ZealandJuly 3, 1995 · 247 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands, New ZealandAugust 2, 1941 · 203 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands, New ZealandApril 17, 1919 · 128 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1976M7.9
Kermadec Islands
14 Jan 1976 · 258 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1968M7.3
S Of, Raoul
25 Jul 1968 · 86 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1917M8.0
Kermadec Islands
1 May 1917 · 288 km away
tsunami
- 1976M7.8
Kermadec Islands
14 Jan 1976 · 225 km away · intensity VIII
- 1978M7.7
S Of
9 Feb 1978 · 186 km away
- 1943M7.6
S Of
14 Sep 1943 · 240 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.