QuakeScout
Magnitude4.6

Reviewed by USGS18y ago

M4.6 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands

Monday, January 14, 2008, 01:43:04 UTC · 25.813°S, 177.375°W

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Monday, January 14, 2008, 01:43:04 UTC, at a depth of 136.1 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.6 on January 9, 2008.

Magnitude
4.6
Light · mb
Depth
136 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

120 tons of TNT

That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

38 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

136 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 M3.7 on January 19, 2008. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M41h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.6
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 3.7south of the Fiji Islands18y ago · 39 km N of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,006 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.01976 Kermadec Islands, New Zealand EarthquakeJanuary 14, 1976 · 292 km S of this epicenter
  2. 7.8south of TongaOctober 11, 1975 · 249 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.8south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 9, 2007 · 25 km SW of this epicenter
  4. 7.7Kermadec Islands regionOctober 20, 1986 · 275 km S of this epicenter
  5. 7.6south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 18, 1963 · 130 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 18 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsMarch 30, 1972 · 295 km W of this epicenter
  8. 7.2south of the Fiji IslandsNovember 24, 1960 · 170 km NE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1986M8.1

    Raoul

    20 Oct 1986 · 275 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  2. 1975M7.8

    S Of Tonga

    11 Oct 1975 · 249 km away

  3. 2007M7.8

    Kermadec Islands

    9 Dec 2007 · 25 km away

    tsunami

  4. 1982M7.7

    Tonga Trench

    19 Dec 1982 · 241 km away

    tsunami

  5. 1963M7.5

    Tonga Trench

    18 Dec 1963 · 137 km away

    tsunami

  6. 1977M7.2

    Tonga Trench

    10 Oct 1977 · 197 km away

    tsunami

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

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