M5.0 Earthquake in the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati region — January 4, 2023
2023-01-04 02:02:10 UTC (2023-01-04) · approx. 1:02 PM UTC+11 local
Felt by 1 person across nearby locations.
On January 4, 2023 at 02:02 UTC, a magnitude 5.0 shallow crustal earthquake struck in the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati region, at a depth of 10.0 km and coordinates 0.0764°, 170.0324°. The earthquake was reported felt by 1 personacross nearby locations, with a maximum shaking intensity of Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) 3.7 (light). The USGS PAGER system issued a green alert level for this event, indicating no significant casualties or damage expected. This earthquake was detected by 65 seismic stations with excellent location accuracy and was assigned a USGS significance rating of 385, placing it among routine seismic activity.
Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 5.0 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 477 metric tons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 1.7 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
170.0324°E
Technical Information
Common Questions
How strong was the magnitude 5.0 earthquake in the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati region?
The magnitude 5.0 earthquake that struck in the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati region on January 4, 2023 at 02:02 UTC had a depth of 10.0 km. It was felt by 1 person with maximum shaking intensity of MMI 3.7 (light). For context, this was a moderate earthquake that could be widely felt.
Where did the earthquake occur?
The earthquake epicenter was located at 0.0764°, 170.0324°, which is in the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati region.
Were there aftershocks?
Aftershock activity is monitored continuously by the USGS. Aftershock sequences from magnitude 5.0 earthquakes can continue for days to weeks and gradually diminish over time.
Actions
Authoritative source: USGS event page (event ID: us7000j1zi). All scientific values on this page are sourced verbatim from the USGS feed.
Cite this page: EarthquakeTracker.org. (2023, January 4, 2023). M5.0 Earthquake in the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati region — January 4, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2023 from https://www.earthquaketracker.org/earthquakes/event/us7000j1zi/