QuakeScout
Magnitude6.2

Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands60y ago

M6.2 earthquake 48 km SSW of Lata, Solomon Islands

Tuesday, January 3, 1967, 05:52:51 UTC · 11.095°S, 165.560°E

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 48 km SSW of Lata, Solomon Islands on Tuesday, January 3, 1967, 05:52:51 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.2 on January 3, 1967.

Magnitude
6.2
Strong · mw
Depth
15 km
Shallow
Felt reports
0
Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking
—
No ShakeMap
PAGER alert
None
Not issued
Tsunami
No flag
USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

30 kilotons of TNT

That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 63 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

49 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

15 km

Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.

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 100 km

USGS lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.0 on January 16, 1967. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M5M61h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M6.2
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 6.062 km SSW of Lata, Solomon Islands60y ago · 23 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 5.583 km SSW of Lata, Solomon Islands60y ago · 41 km S of this epicenter
  3. 5.750 km SSW of Lata, Solomon Islands60y ago · 2 km SW of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 119 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.8146 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsDecember 31, 1966 · 131 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 7.8186 km NNW of Sola, VanuatuDecember 17, 1957 · 191 km SE of this epicenter
  3. 7.7138 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 18, 1934 · 123 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.428 km NW of Lata, Solomon IslandsSeptember 15, 1963 · 64 km N of this epicenter
  5. 7.454 km ESE of Lata, Solomon IslandsMay 17, 1941 · 84 km E of this epicenter
  6. 7.345 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 21, 1934 · 44 km E of this epicenter
  7. 7.2199 km S of Lata, Solomon IslandsDecember 31, 1966 · 157 km S of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 10 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1934M7.8

    Santa Cruz Islands

    18 Jul 1934 · 156 km away

    tsunami

  2. 1957M7.8

    Santa Cruz Islands

    17 Dec 1957 · 183 km away

  3. 1966M7.8

    Santa Cruz Islands

    31 Dec 1966 · 131 km away

    tsunami

  4. 1909M7.7

    Solomon Islands

    9 Dec 1909 · 136 km away

  5. 1900M7.6

    Santa Cruz Islands

    29 Jul 1900 · 136 km away

  6. 1953M7.5

    Solomon Islands

    4 Nov 1953 · 255 km away

    tsunami

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

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