M6.0 earthquake registered south of the Kermadec Islands, New Zealand
Image credit: TW/SAM, Google
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.0 hit south of the Kermadec Islands, New Zealand at 20:42 UTC on December 6, 2020. The agency is reporting a depth of 82.7 km (51 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.0 at a depth of 80 km (49 miles).
The epicenter was located 596 km (370 miles) NE of Whitianga, New Zealand.
There are no people living within 100 km (62 miles).
There is no tsunami threat from this earthquake.
Image credit: TW/SAM, Google
The USGS issued a green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. There is a low likelihood of casualties and damage.
Regional seismicity
The Kermadec Islands are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean 800 – 1 000 km (500 – 620 miles) northeast of New Zealand's North Island.
They are uninhabited, except for the permanently manned Raoul Island Station, the northernmost outpost of New Zealand.
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
Published in the last 24 hours
- In January 2000, chunks of ice weighing up to 6 pounds fell out of clear blue skies over Spain for 10 days. One smashed through a car windshield, and scientists still can’t fully explain where they came from Epicenter
- El Niño reaches 2.0°C on NOAA’s index, a tenth of a degree behind 1997–98 at the same point, as forecasters expect it to challenge the all-time record this winter
- The fastest wind gust ever measured on Earth, 253 mph, hit an oil island off Australia during Cyclone Olivia in 1996, and nobody noticed for more than a decade, until experts reading old data quietly took the record from New Hampshire's Mount Washington Epicenter
- In 1954, a grapefruit-sized meteorite crashed through a roof in Sylacauga, Alabama, and struck Ann Hodges as she napped on her couch Epicenter
