Reviewed by USGSFiji15y ago
M4.9 earthquake 248 km S of Levuka, Fiji
Saturday, October 1, 2011, 18:29:02 UTC · 20.310°S, 179.363°E
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 248 km S of Levuka, Fiji on Saturday, October 1, 2011, 18:29:02 UTC, at a depth of 43.1 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.3 on September 15, 2011.
- Magnitude
- 4.9
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 43 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
338 tons of TNT
That is about 1/45 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 1 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
352 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Australian and Conway Reef plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
43 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 50 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 807 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8Fiji regionJanuary 1, 1919 · 289 km E of this epicenter
- 7.7Fiji regionAugust 19, 2002 · 193 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.6178 km E of Levuka, FijiFebruary 22, 1909 · 292 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.4Fiji regionSeptember 28, 1957 · 240 km E of this epicenter
- 7.4Fiji regionAugust 5, 1996 · 246 km E of this epicenter
- 7.3Fiji regionMay 25, 1944 · 188 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.3Fiji regionSeptember 15, 2011 · 185 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2Fiji regionOctober 9, 1967 · 179 km SE 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, which together caused about 48 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1840
Kadavu
1840 · 204 km away · intensity VIII
40 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
- 1953M6.4
Fiji Islands
14 Sep 1953 · 255 km away
8 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1932M6.4
Koro,Mudu,Suvasavu
8 Mar 1932 · 238 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1919M7.8
Fiji Islands
1 Jan 1919 · 289 km away
tsunami
- 2002M7.7
Fiji Islands
19 Aug 2002 · 193 km away
- 1957M7.5
Fiji Islands
28 Sep 1957 · 223 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.