QuakeScout
Magnitude4.4

Reviewed by USGSTonga21y ago

M4.4 earthquake 274 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga

Tuesday, June 14, 2005, 16:09:39 UTC · 20.085°S, 177.588°W

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 274 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga on Tuesday, June 14, 2005, 16:09:39 UTC, at a depth of 509.8 km (deep).

Magnitude
4.4
Light · mb
Depth
510 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

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

145 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Niuafo'ou and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: deep

510 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 4 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.6 on June 16, 2005. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M41h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.4
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.5299 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga21y ago · 25 km NW of this epicenter
  2. 4.2281 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga21y ago · 8 km W of this epicenter
  3. 4.5294 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga21y ago · 41 km N of this epicenter
  4. 4.6Fiji region21y ago · 29 km NW of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,432 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.0TongaJanuary 4, 1903 · 271 km E of this epicenter
  2. 7.8159 km W of Pangai, TongaDecember 14, 1950 · 184 km E of this epicenter
  3. 7.8Fiji regionJanuary 1, 1919 · 100 km NW of this epicenter
  4. 7.8192 km WSW of Haveluloto, TongaOctober 14, 1997 · 240 km S of this epicenter
  5. 7.7Fiji regionAugust 19, 2002 · 268 km SW of this epicenter
  6. 7.6178 km E of Levuka, FijiFebruary 22, 1909 · 258 km NW of this epicenter
  7. 7.6240 km E of Levuka, FijiMarch 9, 1994 · 243 km N of this epicenter
  8. 7.5262 km WNW of Haveluloto, TongaMay 21, 1962 · 13 km E of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1937M8.1

    Fiji Islands

    16 Apr 1937 · 169 km away

  2. 1903M8.0

    Tonga Islands

    4 Jan 1903 · 271 km away

  3. 1909M7.8

    Fiji Islands

    22 Feb 1909 · 275 km away

  4. 1919M7.8

    Fiji Islands

    1 Jan 1919 · 100 km away

    tsunami

  5. 1950M7.7

    Tonga Islands

    14 Dec 1950 · 178 km away · intensity VI

  6. 1997M7.7

    Tonga Islands

    14 Oct 1997 · 240 km away

    tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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