Very Strong Mag. 6.7 Earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, 222 km South of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa, on Monday, Dec 5, 2022 at 8:24 am (GMT +13)

Very strong magnitude 6.7 earthquake at 36 km depth

4 Dec 19:31 UTC: First to report: USGS after 7 minutes.
4 Dec 19:37: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 33.0 to 148.0 km (from 21 to 92 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 7.6 km (4.7 mi) towards NE.

Earthquake details

Date & time	Dec 4, 2022 19:24:27 UTC -
Local time at epicenter	Monday, Dec 5, 2022 at 8:24 am (GMT +13)
Status	Confirmed
Magnitude	6.7
Depth	36.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude	15.7001°S / 172.5°W (South Pacific Ocean, Samoa)
Antipode	15.7°N / 7.5°E
Shaking intensity	Moderate shaking
Felt	9 reports
Primary data source	USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Nearest volcano	Curacoa (126 km / 78 mi)
Nearby towns and cities	214 km (133 mi) SSW of Mulifanua (pop: 4,510) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 222 km (138 mi) SSW of Apia (pop: 40,400) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 223 km (138 mi) SSW of Afega (Malie) (pop: 1,900) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 225 km (140 mi) SSW of Lufilufi (pop: 1,070) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 243 km (151 mi) S of Asau (pop: 6,640) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 250 km (155 mi) SW of Pago Pago (Ma'Oputasi, American Samoa) (pop: 11,500) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 463 km (288 mi) NW of Alofi (Niue) (pop: 624) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 478 km (297 mi) SE of Mata-Utu (Hahake, Wallis & Futuna) (pop: 1,200) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 481 km (299 mi) SE of Wallis Island (pop: 10,000) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby
Weather at epicenter at time of quake	Scattered Clouds 27.9°C (82 F), humidity: 75%, wind: 5 m/s (10 kts) from E
Estimated seismic energy released	7.1 x 10¹⁴ joules (197 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 1.7 x 10⁵ tons of TNT or 10.6 atomic bombs!) \| about seismic energy

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Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies

Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.

Mag.	Depth	Location	Source
6.7	36 km	Samoa: 134 Km E of Hihifo, Tonga	USGS
6.7	51 km	Samoa: Tonga Islands	GFZ
6.8	58 km	Samoa: Tonga Islands	GeoAu
6.7	10 km	Samoa: TONGA	EMSC
6.5	10 km	Samoa: Near Nouméa	RENASS
6.7	36 km	Samoa Islands Region	RaspberryShake
6.7	10 km	Samoa Islands Region	IRIS
6.8	16 km	Samoa: Tonga Islands [Sea: Tonga]	INGV

Most recent quakes Top 20 past 24 hrs

Seismograms

Seismic station: Tucson, Arizona (TUC/IU network) | Distance from quake: 8457 km / 5255 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Tucson, Arizona: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.02-2.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

User reports for this quake (9)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.

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Apia, Tuamasaga (216.4 km NNE of epicenter) [Map] / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / rattling, vibrating / 20-30 s : Started as gentle but gradually intensified the violent shaking | 53 users found this interesting.

I hope you're alright

Pago Pago (243.2 km NE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / 20-30 s : Bed was shaking/wobbling. | 8 users found this interesting.

Apia. Motootua Hospital / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s : Light shaking | 6 users found this interesting.

FALALEU (481.5 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s : assise sur mon canapé, je l'ai ressenti bouger. face à moi la TV oscillait aussi | 6 users found this interesting.

Wallis et Futuna (475.2 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III)

Apia, Samoa / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 minutes

Savaii / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s (reported through our app)

Wallis / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s (reported through our app)

Samoa / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 10-15 s

Aftershocks

[More info]

Recorded aftershocks, latest first (16 quakes)

Date and time	Mag Depth	Location	Details
Mar 22, 2023 19:05 8 days ago	4.5 10 km	South Pacific Ocean, 160 km S of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa	More
Mar 16, 2023 07:06 2 weeks ago	4.8 10 km	South Pacific Ocean, 237 km S of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa	More
Mar 15, 2023 07:39 2 weeks ago	4.7 39 km	South Pacific Ocean, 225 km SW of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa	More
Mar 4, 2023 20:18 4 weeks ago	5.2 47 km	South Pacific Ocean, 240 km NE of Neiafu, Vava'u, Tonga	More
Feb 25, 2023 20:10 5 weeks ago	4.7 35 km	South Pacific Ocean, 290 km S of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa	More
Feb 6, 2023 17:32 7 weeks ago	5.0 10 km	South Pacific Ocean, 222 km SW of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa	More
Jan 31, 2023 19:02 8 weeks ago	5.0 40 km	South Pacific Ocean, 263 km SW of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa	More
Jan 20, 2023 03:11 10 weeks ago	4.9 10 km	South Pacific Ocean, 213 km SW of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa	More
Jan 17, 2023 09:38 10 weeks ago	4.9 10 km	South Pacific Ocean, 206 km SW of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa	More
Dec 31, 2022 15:10 13 weeks ago	4.9 10 km	South Pacific Ocean, 89 km SE of Hihifo, Niuas, Tonga	More
Dec 25, 2022 18:39 14 weeks ago	4.9 10 km	South Pacific Ocean, 74 km SE of Hihifo, Niuas, Tonga	More
Dec 8, 2022 10:06 16 weeks ago	5.6 17 km	South Pacific Ocean, 198 km SW of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa	More
Dec 5, 2022 16:19 16 weeks ago - felt	5.6 10 km	South Pacific Ocean, 212 km SW of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa	More
Dec 4, 2022 23:38 17 weeks ago	5.1 10 km	South Pacific Ocean, 198 km S of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa	More
Dec 4, 2022 21:14 17 weeks ago	4.5 10 km	South Pacific Ocean, 206 km SW of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa	More
Dec 4, 2022 20:27 17 weeks ago	4.9 33 km	South Pacific Ocean, 202 km SW of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa	More

Earlier earthquakes in the same area

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Very strong mag. 6.7 earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, 222 km south of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa, on Monday, Dec 5, 2022 at 8:24 am (GMT +13) -

Very strong magnitude 6.7 earthquake at 36 km depth

Earthquake details

Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies

Seismograms

User reports for this quake (9)

Aftershocks

Recorded aftershocks, latest first (16 quakes)

Earlier earthquakes in the same area

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Very strong mag. 6.7 earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, 222 km south of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa, on Monday, Dec 5, 2022 at 8:24 am (GMT +13) - writeAge(1670181867)

Very strong magnitude 6.7 earthquake at 36 km depth

Earthquake details

Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies

Seismograms

User reports for this quake (9)

Aftershocks

Recorded aftershocks, latest first (16 quakes)

Earlier earthquakes in the same area

Support us - Help us upgrade our services!

Very strong mag. 6.7 earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, 222 km south of Apia, Tuamasaga, Samoa, on Monday, Dec 5, 2022 at 8:24 am (GMT +13) -