M5.4 Earthquake in the Fiji region — December 3, 2024

On December 3, 2024 at 08:06 UTC, a magnitude 5.4 deep-focus earthquake struck in the Fiji region, at a depth of 583.8 km and coordinates -21.1248°, -178.8369°. The USGS PAGER system issued a green alert level for this event, indicating no significant casualties or damage expected. This earthquake was detected by 119 seismic stations with excellent location accuracy and was assigned a USGS significance rating of 449, placing it among routine seismic activity.

Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 5.4 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 2 kilotons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 3.2 km — a useful intuition for the size of the slip patch on the fault.

This earthquake is part of an ongoing aftershock sequence following the magnitude 5.5 mainshock that occurred 20 days ago in the Fiji region. Since the mainshock, the USGS has recorded 2 aftershocks in this area. Aftershock activity is expected to continue for days to weeks as stresses on surrounding faults redistribute.

The epicenter is located in Fiji, a region characterized by the Fiji Fracture Zone at the junction of the Pacific and Australian plates, with deep-focus seismicity from the subducted slab. View all earthquakes in Fiji.

Learn more: Magnitude scale · Aftershock sequences