QuakeScout
Magnitude3.8

Reviewed by USGS24y ago

M3.8 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands

Friday, October 4, 2002, 03:49:10 UTC · 24.366°S, 179.814°E

A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Friday, October 4, 2002, 03:49:10 UTC, at a depth of 600.0 km (deep).

Magnitude
3.8
Minor · mb
Depth
600 km
Deep
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: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

8 tons of TNT

That is about 1/1,992 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 63 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

270 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: deep

600 km

Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.

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 lists 8 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on October 31, 2002. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M3.8
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.4south of the Fiji Islands24y ago · 19 km W of this epicenter
  2. 4.8south of the Fiji Islands24y ago · 28 km SE of this epicenter
  3. 4.6south of the Fiji Islands24y ago · 38 km N of this epicenter
  4. 4.7south of the Fiji Islands24y ago · 49 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 4.6south of the Fiji Islands24y ago · 38 km SE of this epicenter
  6. 4.3south of the Fiji Islands24y ago · 32 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 3.8south of the Fiji Islands24y ago · 44 km SW of this epicenter
  8. 4.1south of the Fiji Islands24y ago · 38 km S of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 709 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.7south of the Fiji IslandsAugust 19, 2002 · 144 km W of this epicenter
  2. 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsMarch 30, 1972 · 160 km S of this epicenter
  3. 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsFebruary 10, 1969 · 202 km NW of this epicenter
  4. 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsJuly 11, 1992 · 277 km NE of this epicenter
  5. 7.1south of the Fiji IslandsJune 16, 1986 · 289 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 6.9south of the Fiji IslandsMay 16, 1998 · 247 km N of this epicenter
  7. 6.8south of the Fiji IslandsSeptember 4, 1997 · 286 km SW of this epicenter
  8. 6.7south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 28, 1964 · 256 km N of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1932M7.9

    Kermadec Islands

    26 May 1932 · 140 km away

  2. 2002M7.7

    Fiji Islands

    19 Aug 2002 · 144 km away

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages