Reviewed by USGS19y ago
M4.3 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands
Saturday, December 29, 2007, 14:13:34 UTC · 25.533°S, 178.743°W
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Saturday, December 29, 2007, 14:13:34 UTC, at a depth of 524.6 km (deep).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 525 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
43 tons of TNT
That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
102 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: deep
525 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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.6 on January 9, 2008. 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 912 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 9, 2007 · 133 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.6south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 18, 1963 · 210 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 157 km E of this epicenter
- 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsMarch 30, 1972 · 161 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsNovember 24, 1960 · 269 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsApril 16, 1996 · 238 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.8south of the Fiji IslandsJuly 4, 1963 · 136 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.7south of the Fiji IslandsSeptember 8, 1920 · 271 km NE 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:
- 1932M7.9
Kermadec Islands
26 May 1932 · 206 km away
- 2007M7.8
Kermadec Islands
9 Dec 2007 · 133 km away
tsunami
- 1963M7.5
Tonga Trench
18 Dec 1963 · 231 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.