Reviewed by USGS27y ago
M4.7 earthquake in Fiji region
Saturday, March 6, 1999, 02:26:51 UTC · 17.701°S, 177.285°W
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck in Fiji region on Saturday, March 6, 1999, 02:26:51 UTC, at a depth of 189.4 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on March 3, 1999.
- Magnitude
- 4.7
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 189 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
169 tons of TNT
That is about 1/89 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 3 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
78 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Niuafo'ou and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
189 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 1,005 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8159 km W of Pangai, TongaDecember 14, 1950 · 268 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.8Fiji regionJanuary 1, 1919 · 198 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6178 km E of Levuka, FijiFebruary 22, 1909 · 189 km W of this epicenter
- 7.6144 km SSW of Leava, Wallis and FutunaMay 23, 1956 · 300 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.6240 km E of Levuka, FijiMarch 9, 1994 · 125 km W of this epicenter
- 7.5262 km WNW of Haveluloto, TongaMay 21, 1962 · 266 km S of this epicenter
- 7.4227 km E of Levuka, FijiAugust 21, 1910 · 134 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2241 km WNW of Houma, TongaAugust 21, 1911 · 256 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1909M7.8
Fiji Islands
22 Feb 1909 · 185 km away
- 1919M7.8
Fiji Islands
1 Jan 1919 · 198 km away
tsunami
- 1950M7.7
Tonga Islands
14 Dec 1950 · 242 km away · intensity VI
- 1994M7.6
Fiji Islands
9 Mar 1994 · 125 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.