M5.3 earthquake Fiji region
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck in the Fiji region on Thu, Nov 13, 2008, 11:31 PM GMT+13 (10:31 UTC), 393 km (244 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.3 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2008-11-13 10:31:37 UTC
- Depth
- 393.4 km (244.4 mi), deep
- Epicenter
- 21.802° S, 178.147° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.3 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.26 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.3 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
no people dead or missing; no people injured; no buildings damaged or destroyed
From the USGS event page for usp000gnkm. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
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
- Normal
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 193°, dip 30°, rake -118°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 44°, dip 63°, rake -75°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Station coverage gap
- 64°
- Stations used
- 143
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 3.5Fiji region · 6525 days ago · 537 km deep · 75 km away
- 4.0286 km W of Haveluloto, Tonga · 6524 days ago · 568 km deep · 43 km away
- 3.3Fiji region · 6522 days ago · 559 km deep · 81 km away
- 3.7Fiji region · 6522 days ago · 561 km deep · 90 km away
- 3.8Fiji region · 6513 days ago · 538 km deep · 63 km away
- 4.5Fiji region · 6511 days ago · 538 km deep · 96 km away
- 3.6297 km WSW of Haveluloto, Tonga · 6510 days ago · 538 km deep · 93 km away
- 4.5Fiji region · 6489 days ago · 436 km deep · 96 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayFiji earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000gnkm (also filed as gcmtb200811131031a, gcmt20081113103137, iscgem11451609). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 11:23 AM UTC.