Reviewed by USGS25y ago
M4.6 earthquake in Kermadec Islands region
Tuesday, August 14, 2001, 03:31:49 UTC · 31.106°S, 178.250°W
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck in Kermadec Islands region on Tuesday, August 14, 2001, 03:31:49 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.6 on August 10, 2001.
- Magnitude
- 4.6
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 33 km
- Shallow
- 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
120 tons of TNT
That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
109 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
33 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
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 1,304 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 · 152 km E of this epicenter
- 7.5Kermadec Islands, New ZealandNovember 16, 1917 · 145 km N of this epicenter
- 7.3Kermadec Islands regionSeptember 14, 1959 · 271 km N of this epicenter
- 7.3Kermadec Islands, New ZealandMarch 26, 1963 · 136 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3Kermadec Islands, New ZealandJuly 25, 1968 · 36 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands, New ZealandFebruary 9, 1978 · 97 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands, New ZealandJuly 3, 1995 · 220 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands, New ZealandJune 3, 2001 · 164 km N 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 · 227 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1968M7.3
S Of, Raoul
25 Jul 1968 · 37 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1917M8.0
Kermadec Islands
1 May 1917 · 244 km away
tsunami
- 1976M7.8
Kermadec Islands
14 Jan 1976 · 164 km away · intensity VIII
- 1978M7.7
S Of
9 Feb 1978 · 97 km away
- 1943M7.6
S Of
14 Sep 1943 · 172 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.