M6.6 earthquake 159 km ENE of Labasa, Fiji
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck 159 km ENE of Labasa, Fiji on Thu, Jan 15, 1998, 5:24 AM GMT+12 (17:24 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.6 (Mwb, body-wave moment), strong
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1998-01-14 17:24:10 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 15.731° S, 179.329° W
- Region
- Fiji
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Magnitude estimates
Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.6 | Mwb, body-wave moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 6.52 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 6.5 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
| 6.5 | Mww, W-phase moment | Duputel, W-phase inversion | Preliminary |
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Strike-slip
- Moment magnitude
- 6.5 Mww
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 67°, dip 89°, rake 6°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 337°, dip 83°, rake 179°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 3.6 and up: 4 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.9160 km ENE of Labasa, Fiji · 10490 days ago · 33 km deep · 5 km away
- 4.6149 km ENE of Labasa, Fiji · 10490 days ago · 33 km deep · 11 km away
- 4.7175 km NE of Labasa, Fiji · 10489 days ago · 33 km deep · 51 km away
- 3.9117 km NE of Labasa, Fiji · 10484 days ago · 33 km deep · 50 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayFiji earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0008eb7 (also filed as gcmtc011498e, gcmt19980114172410, duputel011498e, iscgem1064384). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 4:11 PM UTC.