Reviewed by USGS20y ago
M5.4 earthquake south of the Kermadec Islands
Sunday, November 26, 2006, 17:36:13 UTC · 33.971°S, 178.725°W
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck south of the Kermadec Islands on Sunday, November 26, 2006, 17:36:13 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.4 on May 16, 2006.
- Magnitude
- 5.4
- Moderate · mwc
- Depth
- 35 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: 75 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
2 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/8 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 4 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
45 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Pacific plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
35 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 75 km
USGS lists 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.3 on November 27, 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 792 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 · 246 km N of this epicenter
- 7.1south of the Kermadec IslandsMay 25, 1997 · 248 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.9Kermadec Islands regionMay 3, 1997 · 250 km N of this epicenter
- 6.9south of the Kermadec IslandsSeptember 26, 1985 · 81 km S of this epicenter
- 6.9south of the Kermadec IslandsJuly 11, 1943 · 163 km N of this epicenter
- 6.8south of the Kermadec IslandsFebruary 17, 1987 · 142 km N of this epicenter
- 6.8south of the Kermadec IslandsJanuary 8, 1970 · 249 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.7south of the Kermadec IslandsFebruary 13, 1949 · 104 km NE of this epicenter