M5.9 Earthquake south of the Kermadec Islands — December 10, 2020
2020-12-10 20:42:08 UTC (2020-12-10) · approx. 8:42 AM UTC-12 local
Felt by 1 person across nearby locations. Maximum shaking intensity MMI 4.3 (moderate).
On December 10, 2020 at 20:42 UTC, a magnitude 5.9 intermediate depth earthquake struck south of the Kermadec Islands, at a depth of 96.0 km and coordinates -32.8790°, -179.8513°. The earthquake was reported felt by 1 personacross nearby locations, with a maximum shaking intensity of Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) 4.3 (moderate). The USGS PAGER system issued a green alert level for this event, indicating no significant casualties or damage expected.
Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 5.9 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 11 kilotons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 7.1 km — a useful intuition for the size of the slip patch on the fault.
ShakeMap — predicted shaking intensity
Modeled ground-motion intensity contoured on the Modified Mercalli scale (MMI). Computed by the USGS from the moment-tensor solution and regional ground-motion prediction equations.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey ShakeMap. View interactive ShakeMap on USGS
Did You Feel It? — community-reported shaking
Aggregated felt-report intensity from 1 citizen response to the USGS Did You Feel It? system. Each colored zone represents the average MMI from reports in that area.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey Did You Feel It?. View on USGS · submit your own report
Earthquake Details
-179.8513°E
Technical Information
Nearby Earthquakes (Last 7 Days)
Common Questions
How strong was the magnitude 5.9 earthquake south of the Kermadec Islands?
The magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck south of the Kermadec Islands on December 10, 2020 at 20:42 UTC had a depth of 96.0 km. It was felt by 1 person with maximum shaking intensity of MMI 4.3 (moderate). For context, this was a moderate earthquake that could be widely felt.
Where did the earthquake occur?
The earthquake epicenter was located at -32.8790°, -179.8513°, which is south of the Kermadec Islands.
Were there aftershocks?
Aftershock activity is monitored continuously by the USGS. Aftershock sequences from magnitude 5.9 earthquakes can continue for days to weeks and gradually diminish over time.
Actions
Authoritative source: USGS event page (event ID: us7000cpws). All scientific values on this page are sourced verbatim from the USGS feed.
Cite this page: EarthquakeTracker.org. (2020, December 10, 2020). M5.9 Earthquake south of the Kermadec Islands — December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2025 from https://www.earthquaketracker.org/earthquakes/event/us7000cpws/