Reviewed by USGS23y ago
M4.5 earthquake off the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand
Sunday, November 2, 2003, 09:01:15 UTC · 45.077°S, 166.695°E
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck off the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand on Sunday, November 2, 2003, 09:01:15 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.6 on November 2, 2003.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 10 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
85 tons of TNT
That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
10 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
10 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 lists 17 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.2 on November 2, 2003. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
- 3.869 km W of Te Anau, New Zealand23y ago · 30 km S of this epicenter
- 4.0121 km NW of Te Anau, New Zealand23y ago · 42 km N of this epicenter
- 4.881 km WNW of Te Anau, New Zealand23y ago · 19 km S of this epicenter
- 4.776 km WNW of Te Anau, New Zealand23y ago · 19 km S of this epicenter
- 4.164 km WNW of Te Anau, New Zealand23y ago · 25 km SE of this epicenter
- 4.261 km WNW of Te Anau, New Zealand23y ago · 28 km SE of this epicenter
- 3.767 km W of Te Anau, New Zealand23y ago · 35 km S of this epicenter
- 4.190 km WNW of Te Anau, New Zealand23y ago · 14 km SW of this epicenter
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 61 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.5173 km WSW of Riverton, New ZealandSeptember 1, 1945 · 220 km S of this epicenter
- 7.4180 km W of Riverton, New ZealandOctober 12, 1979 · 193 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.256 km NW of Te Anau, New ZealandAugust 21, 2003 · 35 km E of this epicenter
- 7.015 km WNW of Te Anau, New ZealandDecember 16, 1938 · 73 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.063 km WNW of Te Anau, New ZealandAugust 10, 1993 · 29 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.762 km WNW of Te Anau, New ZealandAugust 2, 1943 · 28 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.746 km NNW of Te Anau, New ZealandJune 3, 1988 · 72 km E of this epicenter
- 6.686 km N of Te Anau, New ZealandMay 4, 1976 · 84 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 3 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 2003M7.2
Dunedin,Invercargill,Te Anau,Fiordland
21 Aug 2003 · 35 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1826M8.0
Fjordland
1826 · 82 km away
- 1979M7.5
W Of North Island
12 Oct 1979 · 193 km away · intensity V
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.