Reviewed by USGSWallis and Futuna22y ago
M4.4 earthquake 258 km SSE of Alo, Wallis and Futuna
Monday, August 16, 2004, 01:53:52 UTC · 16.566°S, 177.469°W
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 258 km SSE of Alo, Wallis and Futuna on Monday, August 16, 2004, 01:53:52 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
60 tons of TNT
That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
18 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: 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 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 982 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.6178 km E of Levuka, FijiFebruary 22, 1909 · 243 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6144 km SSW of Leava, Wallis and FutunaMay 23, 1956 · 190 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.6240 km E of Levuka, FijiMarch 9, 1994 · 192 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.4227 km E of Levuka, FijiAugust 21, 1910 · 180 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.2Fiji regionMarch 31, 1907 · 178 km S of this epicenter
- 7.2178 km ENE of Levuka, FijiMarch 29, 1998 · 204 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.1217 km E of Levuka, FijiJuly 8, 1916 · 205 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.1208 km ENE of Levuka, FijiJuly 15, 2004 · 183 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 5 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1993M6.4
Futuna Island
12 Mar 1993 · 257 km away
5 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1919M6.9
Rabi,Tunuloa Mission,Suvasavu
3 Oct 1919 · 270 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1979M6.9
Fiji Islands
16 Nov 1979 · 269 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1909M7.8
Fiji Islands
22 Feb 1909 · 228 km away
- 1994M7.6
Fiji Islands
9 Mar 1994 · 192 km away
- 1956M7.5
Fiji Islands
23 May 1956 · 239 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.