77 km ENE of Ba, Fiji

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake — a major event — struck near 77 km ENE of Ba, Fiji on November 9, 2009, at a deep-focus depth of about 595 km. An earthquake this size would have been felt strongly across the surrounding region; deep-focus earthquakes rarely cause major surface damage despite their size. Casualties, damage and the recovery depend on local building standards, population and distance from the epicentre — the news coverage, references and photos below capture what happened on the ground.