Reviewed by USGSNew Zealand23y ago
M4.0 earthquake 121 km NW of Te Anau, New Zealand
Saturday, November 29, 2003, 16:12:43 UTC · 44.720°S, 166.520°E
A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 121 km NW of Te Anau, New Zealand on Saturday, November 29, 2003, 16:12:43 UTC, at a depth of 17.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.0
- Light · ml
- Depth
- 17 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
15 tons of TNT
That is about 1/998 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 32 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
45 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Australian and Pacific plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
17 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 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.3 on December 7, 2003. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 57 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 · 256 km S of this epicenter
- 7.4180 km W of Riverton, New ZealandOctober 12, 1979 · 226 km S of this epicenter
- 7.256 km NW of Te Anau, New ZealandAugust 21, 2003 · 65 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.015 km WNW of Te Anau, New ZealandDecember 16, 1938 · 107 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.063 km WNW of Te Anau, New ZealandAugust 10, 1993 · 70 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.762 km WNW of Te Anau, New ZealandAugust 2, 1943 · 67 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.746 km NNW of Te Anau, New ZealandJune 3, 1988 · 91 km E of this epicenter
- 6.686 km N of Te Anau, New ZealandMay 4, 1976 · 84 km E 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 · 65 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1826M8.0
Fjordland
1826 · 120 km away
- 1979M7.5
W Of North Island
12 Oct 1979 · 226 km away · intensity V
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.