Reviewed by USGS13y ago
M4.9 earthquake south of the Fiji Islands
Saturday, June 8, 2013, 18:12:05 UTC · 24.357°S, 176.092°W
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands on Saturday, June 8, 2013, 18:12:05 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on June 5, 2013.
- Magnitude
- 4.9
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 10 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
49 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Tonga plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
10 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 1,101 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8south of TongaOctober 11, 1975 · 115 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.8192 km WSW of Haveluloto, TongaOctober 14, 1997 · 260 km N of this epicenter
- 7.8south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 9, 2007 · 232 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 18, 1963 · 88 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6191 km S of ‘Ohonua, TongaMarch 19, 2009 · 206 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.4292 km SW of Vaini, TongaMay 23, 2013 · 190 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.4south of TongaMarch 18, 1905 · 273 km E of this epicenter
- 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 207 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 9 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1977M7.2
Tonga Trench
22 Jun 1977 · 166 km away · intensity IV
1 death$1 million damagetsunami
- 1975M7.8
S Of Tonga
11 Oct 1975 · 115 km away
- 2007M7.8
Kermadec Islands
9 Dec 2007 · 232 km away
tsunami
- 1982M7.7
Tonga Trench
19 Dec 1982 · 34 km away
tsunami
- 1997M7.7
Tonga Islands
14 Oct 1997 · 260 km away
tsunami
- 2009M7.6
Tonga Islands
19 Mar 2009 · 206 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.