M7.8 earthquake 28 km ESE of Isangel, Vanuatu

Thursday, June 16, 1910, 06:30:42 UTC · 19.601°S, 169.547°E

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck 28 km ESE of Isangel, Vanuatu on Thursday, June 16, 1910, 06:30:42 UTC, at a depth of 100.0 km (intermediate). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.

Magnitude: 7.8; Major · mw
Depth: 100 km; Intermediate
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VIII; Severe (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

8.7 megatons of TNT

That is about 576 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 18,197 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

149 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the New Hebrides and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: intermediate

100 km

Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.

Did You Feel It?

Where it was felt

No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.

I felt it — report to USGS ↗

USGS PAGER estimate

Who was exposed to shaking

USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.

After the main event

Aftershocks within 200 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 9 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 12 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 26 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1875M8.1
Loyalty Islands: Lifou Island
28 Mar 1875 · 118 km away
26 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1901M7.9
Loyalty Islands
9 Aug 1901 · 271 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1878M7.5
Tanna Island
10 Jan 1878 · 129 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1878M8.0
Vanuatu Islands
11 Feb 1878 · 129 km away
tsunami
1910M7.9
Vanuatu Islands
16 Jun 1910 · 67 km away
1863M7.5
Vanuatu Islands
17 Aug 1863 · 129 km away
tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

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