Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands60y ago
M5.9 earthquake 196 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands
Tuesday, January 3, 1967, 21:23:22 UTC · 12.370°S, 166.472°E
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 196 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands on Tuesday, January 3, 1967, 21:23:22 UTC, at a depth of 25.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.2 on January 3, 1967.
- Magnitude
- 5.9
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 25 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: 75 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
9 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 19 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
71 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
25 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 75 km
USGS lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.9 on January 19, 1967. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 152 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8146 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsDecember 31, 1966 · 56 km N of this epicenter
- 7.8186 km NNW of Sola, VanuatuDecember 17, 1957 · 24 km E of this epicenter
- 7.745 km NNE of Port-Olry, VanuatuMay 20, 1965 · 265 km S of this epicenter
- 7.7138 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 18, 1934 · 62 km N of this epicenter
- 7.428 km NW of Lata, Solomon IslandsSeptember 15, 1963 · 225 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.454 km ESE of Lata, Solomon IslandsMay 17, 1941 · 172 km N of this epicenter
- 7.344 km SSW of Sola, VanuatuJanuary 5, 1915 · 228 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.379 km WSW of Sola, VanuatuAugust 6, 1912 · 192 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 9 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1910M7.2
Espiritu Santo
10 Nov 1910 · 181 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1934M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
18 Jul 1934 · 59 km away
tsunami
- 1957M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
17 Dec 1957 · 26 km away
- 1966M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
31 Dec 1966 · 53 km away
tsunami
- 1953M7.5
Solomon Islands
4 Nov 1953 · 91 km away
tsunami
- 1963M7.5
Solomon Islands
15 Sep 1963 · 224 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.