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Earthquake Details
This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
Magnitude 7.4
Date-Time
Friday, October 21, 2011 at 17:57:16 UTC
Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 05:57:16 AM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 28.998°S, 176.183°W
Depth 32.9 km (20.4 miles)
Region KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
Distances 169 km (105 miles) E of Raoul Island, Kermadec Islands
375 km (233 miles) NE of L'Esperance Rock, Kermadec Islands
877 km (544 miles) S of NUKU`ALOFA, Tonga
1215 km (754 miles) NE of Auckland, New Zealand
Location Uncertainty horizonta
Information Bulletin Supplement Pacific Ocean : SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. IT MAY HAVE BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. FOR THOSE AREAS – WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO THE CONTINUING SEA LEVEL CHANGES AND RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES. NO TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS FOR OTHER COASTAL AREAS IN THE PACIFIC ALTHOUGH SOME OTHER AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE SMALL NON-DESTRUCTIVE SEA LEVEL CHANGES LASTING UP TO SEVERAL HOURS
Understanding this earthquake The October 21, 2011 Kermadec Islands region earthquake occurred near the Kermadec Trench where the Pacific Plate begins its decent into the mantle beneath the eastern edge of the Australian Plate. At the latitude of this earthquake, the Pacific Plate is converging with Australia in a westward direction at a velocity of approximately 61 mm/yr. The preliminary mechanism and depth of the event suggest it ruptured a reverse fault within the oceanic lithosphere of the Pacific Plate; the initial location indicate a source slightly to the east of the trench, outboard (seaward) of the subduction zone itself, and thus not on the thrust interface between the Pacific and Australian plates.