QuakeScout
Magnitude4.3

Reviewed by USGS15y ago

M4.3 earthquake in Kermadec Islands region

Saturday, November 5, 2011, 23:10:09 UTC · 28.985°S, 175.848°W

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck in Kermadec Islands region on Saturday, November 5, 2011, 23:10:09 UTC, at a depth of 27.1 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.3
Light · mb
Depth
27 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: 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

20 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

27 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 lists 4 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on December 1, 2011. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.3
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.8Kermadec Islands region15y ago · 6 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 4.5Kermadec Islands region15y ago · 47 km SW of this epicenter
  3. 4.3Kermadec Islands region15y ago · 26 km W of this epicenter
  4. 4.8Kermadec Islands region15y ago · 41 km SW of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,491 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.21917 Kermadec Islands, New Zealand EarthquakeMay 1, 1917 · 258 km S of this epicenter
  2. 8.01976 Kermadec Islands, New Zealand EarthquakeJanuary 14, 1976 · 187 km W of this epicenter
  3. 7.7Kermadec Islands regionOctober 20, 1986 · 109 km NW of this epicenter
  4. 7.6Kermadec Islands regionJuly 6, 2011 · 78 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 7.5Kermadec Islands regionFebruary 27, 1955 · 76 km N of this epicenter
  6. 7.5Kermadec Islands, New ZealandNovember 16, 1917 · 215 km SW of this epicenter
  7. 7.4Kermadec Islands regionOctober 21, 2011 · 38 km W of this epicenter
  8. 7.3Kermadec Islands regionSeptember 14, 1959 · 133 km W of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 13 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1986M8.1

    Raoul

    20 Oct 1986 · 109 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  2. 1976M7.9

    Kermadec Islands

    14 Jan 1976 · 157 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  3. 1917M8.0

    Kermadec Islands

    1 May 1917 · 114 km away

    tsunami

  4. 1955M7.8

    Kermadec Islands

    27 Feb 1955 · 115 km away

  5. 1976M7.8

    Kermadec Islands

    14 Jan 1976 · 169 km away · intensity VIII

  6. 1959M7.7

    Kermadec Islands

    14 Sep 1959 · 125 km away

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

Nearby trackers

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