Reviewed by USGS20y ago
M4.5 earthquake south of the Kermadec Islands
Sunday, June 11, 2006, 16:56:47 UTC · 32.481°S, 179.817°W
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck south of the Kermadec Islands on Sunday, June 11, 2006, 16:56:47 UTC, at a depth of 138.9 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.6 on June 9, 2006.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 139 km
- Intermediate
- 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
23 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
139 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.3 on July 9, 2006. 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 1,019 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.4Kermadec Islands regionMay 16, 2006 · 89 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3Kermadec Islands, New ZealandJuly 25, 1968 · 245 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands, New ZealandApril 17, 1919 · 273 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.1Kermadec Islands, New ZealandSeptember 26, 1968 · 268 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.1south of the Kermadec IslandsMay 25, 1997 · 55 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0Kermadec Islands, New ZealandMay 20, 1968 · 242 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.0Kermadec Islands, New ZealandMay 14, 1989 · 255 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.0Kermadec Islands regionJanuary 26, 1983 · 238 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1968M7.3
S Of, Raoul
25 Jul 1968 · 230 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.